I like the food there also, but I will only do take out because every time we have eaten there our meal was ruined by someone smoking.

I'm south of the turnpike and Hobby Lobby is 9.1 miles from me, 19 mins away. According to Google, Hobby Lobby is 14 mins from Spanish Springs. I don't really think the extra 5 mins is a big deal. I can get there easily in my golf cart as well.

I definitely think you're on to something there. I'm south of 44 and many of my neighbors and myself get things delivered frequently rather than bother going to a physical store. We get Amazon and Kroger deliveries at least once per week. I don't really feel like the retail is that sparse. I can get to Home Depot or Lowes in around 10 mins. That's about the same as my "up north" home. A closer Walmart would be convenient but having to drive 15 mins to the one in Oxford doesn't bother me very much.

I have nothing against Spanish Springs. It's just that I live in the Fenny area and other restaurants/attractions/bands are closer to me in Brownwood, Sawgrass, and developing/soon to develop, Eastport and Middleton.

So unless there is something very special in SS to get me there (really good restaurant, entertainment, special event) I'm not going to make the multi-traffic circle drive. I'm certainly not going to take my golf cart.

So assuming folks down here think like me, it's going to be up to the Lake Sumter area and north people to keep it going. Are there enough with enough disposable income to make that work? I would think so, but the boarded up locations awaiting revitalization would argue against that. Time will tell, I suppose.

I certainly want to see it succeed, it benefits all of us. But I'm not that far removed from the business world to understand that business must make a profit. It's not a charity.

The only thing I want closer are good dining options. Anything else I can order on line and have delivered. I don't look at shopping as entertainment. It's a necessary evil. Hunt it, gather it, and be done with it.

Depending on your needs there is a closer neighborhood Walmart across from Colony Plaza.

Well said.

I think that is the secret, they need to make SS something special.

I think it can do okay with those N of 44 supporting it - but they want those around Sawgrass driving to SS, just as they want those around 466 driving to Eastport, even if its only once or twice a month.

I live just north of 44...

When I want to go up to the shopping on 441, we drive our car. We've taken our cart to SS only a couple of times.

It's a reasonable car drive for us. Once you add the additional distance from Eastport, it's much, much farther..

Why is it so hard to believe that distance/drive is something that many people don't want to deal with...

Makes sense to me. This is why we live just north of 466A. We do go often to LSL and Brownwood and shop regularly on 441 but rare to go to Spanish Springs

I live less than a mile from Spanish Springs and totally understand why folks living south of 44 don’t want to drive up here. I don’t travel south of 44 either. This place is just too big for its residents to travel to its furthest reaches. I don’t even go to Brownwood. Ever.

My point was commercial business is suffering EVERYWHERE.It makes no sense to discuss the demise in one square and not the others. I will believe Middleton will have lots of commercial interest when I actually see it. I think it will.take MANY years to be fully leased.The cost to operate a business is much more expensive than years ago. Instead of expanding, businesses across the USA are cutting back.

To me, Costco is in the Spanish Springs area. It definitely is not in the southern section. Business is not booming in the south. So why worry about the Northern area? We are ALL in the same boat. The world is changing. What is happening in Spanish Springs and OTHER PARTS of TV is occurring throughout many towns in the USA.

Like most of you, I purchase online and enjoy having the items delivered to my door. This is the reason brick and mortar stores are suffering everywhere. A vast majority would rather buy online. Many also prefer to order meals and have them delivered instead of going to a restaurant to dine.

It is about where you live. I only go to SS and LSL. I have not been to Brownwood since the theater closed.

The Hobby Lobby on Wedgewood - just north of 466 - is about 4.6 miles from SS and easily accessible by golf cart. I play pickleball in a league at Everglades RC. I CAN drive my golf cart there but do not since it will take me about an hour from the area near Tierra Del Sol.

It takes me 35 to 40 minutes to get from my home, about 2 miles south of SS, to get to Everglades RC. I call BS on your claim to get to Hobby Lobby from south of the turnpike in 19 minutes.

You're right it's not 19 minutes, it's closer to 15 minutes.

Google Maps starting address is not from my actual home but one on my street.

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