In pretty much every issue of Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, we tell you whatโs new and what businesses are coming to our area. Thatโs because pretty much every time weโre putting together an issue, thereโs something else new, and something else coming.
We know you love it. We can tell.
When we post on Facebook that a new restaurant is coming, our readers like it and share it more than any of our other posts.
But, even with all the growth weโre seeing in Wesley Chapel, it seems thereโs room for more.
When Marilyn Chick, a Wesley Chapel resident for 19 years, posed a simple question on the Wesley Chapel Community page on Facebook last month, Marilyn had no idea that people would comment on it more than 1,000 times.
โWhat new businesses would you like to see come to Wesley Chapel?โ
โI was so surprised,โ Marilyn says, โItโs the first time Iโve ever posted something on Facebook that got that kind of response.โ
Facebook statistics show that, although the post itself had only 30 โlikes,โ the comments the post generated got about 2,300 โlikes,โ and about 7,400 people viewed the original post.
Scrolling through the comments, itโs easy to see a big trend. Most of the responses say, โTrader Joeโs,โ โWhole Foods,โ โFresh Market,โ or some combination of the above, with plenty of โAldiโ thrown in there, too.
Besides the requests for green grocers, many posts asked for specific restaurants.
Cheesecake Factoryโฆ Carrabbaโsโฆ PF Changโsโฆ More places like Buttermilk Provisions and Capital Tacosโฆ Friendlyโsโฆ Einstein Brothers Bagelsโฆ Even Ciciโs Pizza, Steak โn Shake and White Castle.
โI get it,โ says Marilyn. โEveryone has an idea of what they want, what they havenโt had in a while and (especially) what theyโre hungry for.โ
And, of course, there were some tongue-in-cheek responses, like this one from Krista Davidson, poking a little fun at the Fucillio Kia on S.R. 54, โA car dealership where the salesmen stand outside in red shirts.โ
There also were plenty of responses saying, โno more!,โ like this one, from Rusch Jason, which says, โNo new businesses. If anything, they need to slow down growth until the roads catch up!!!!โ
All those posts didnโt answer the bigger question Marilyn says she was really searching for. โIโve retired as a radiology nurse from the Zephyrhills hospital, so Iโm looking for something to do,โ Marilyn explains. โMy daughter, Maxine, and I are thinking about starting a business.โ
Marilyn says neither she nor her daughter cook, so a restaurant is out of the question.
But, in the hundreds of suggestions, she says she found a few that resonate with her, especially the ones that suggested a community center and something for kids.
โIt would be so nice to have something for the performing arts,โ she says, which was suggested in a few comments. โWe have a lot of sports, which is great, but there are other kids who would love to be in a play, or have a place to play their instruments.โ
Marilyn says she doesnโt consider herself to be an entrepreneur, but admits, โweโre thinking about it and looking at what would fit best for usโ as she moves forward and hopes to open a business here in Wesley Chapel.
She has plenty of suggestions to consider.
And, donโt worry, weโll still be sure to tell you when that Fresh Market, Trader Joeโs, Whole Foods or Aldi finally opens in Wesley Chapel.