The Importance of Location

After reading Peter Dykhuizen’s post about the success of the little hot dog joint called Gene’s &Jude’s Red Hots, I found it necessary to reveal the dark side location can have on a restaurant. I know of this hot dog restaurant that is called Mickey’s Hot Dogs. It is located on the rough end of Maywood, Il, a place where there was once a shooting on the same block at a boys and girls club of America. So yes the area is a little shady with its fair share of crime, but the hot dogs are good. I have gotten my hot dogs from Mickey’s Hot Dogs for years, and although my family rarely let me go there I still enjoyed the hot dogs. The problem with this restaurant is not because of the quality of food or the employers who make the food itself, it is the area around it. If you were to ask somebody about Mickey’s Hot Dogs the conversation would go like this; “Yes I’ve heard of it, but do you remember that shooting down the street?” Sure the building looks a little run down, but in this economy who can afford to renovate the place when your customers are too scared to get out of their car. It is sad that an area that was thriving and filled with blue collar citizens has evolved into a culture filled with citizens involved with violence and crime, unaware that its effects have trickled down to the owner who viewed his purchase as a prize years ago, now struggling to make ends meet. At the end of the day it’s all about location and the citizens, because all is not fair in commerce and economy.