Coming 'Round Again

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A Store Reopening

Taken while my wife and I were out and about yesterday. This store is going into where the old Linen's and Things used to be. This pretty much completes the remake of the Millenia Plaza that once held Linens 'n Things and The Expo store. Most of these stores died during the 2008-2009 time frame, during the home real-estate implosion. It's notable that these stores were "secondary" feeders to the home real-estate market, as their primary function was to sell new items to go into these newly purchased homes. Or at least that was the theory. Of course there were a lot of other follow-on economic disasters as we all know, but it's morbidly interesting to watch the effects of economic forces reshape the city and suburbs you live in.

Linens 'n Things MP 1
Former Linen 'n Things taken January 2009

Another Empty Block
Taken July 2009
This expansive shot gives you an idea as to the total empty frontage that these two stores alone produced. The former Expo is on the left, with the former Linens 'n Things on the right.

Expo Going Out Of Business
Taken March 2009

More Toys 'Я' Us construction
Taken September 2010
In the end the former Expo was split into a Toys 'Я' Us store and a Dick's Sporting Goods store. The Toys 'Я' Us store was not new growth, but a move of the Toys 'Я' Us store at West Oaks Mall to this location. The West Oaks Mall location was closed. Dick's Sporting Goods was a new store as far as I could determine.

Dick's Sports Store
Taken September 2010

As the date captions at the bottom of the photos will attest, it has taken three years or longer to reach some degree of recovery. Right now if I drive around this area the various parking lots are filling again with a mix of local residents and international visitors (International Drive and Universal Studios are less than five minutes away, south west down I-4). The increase business in this area is an indicator of both the uptick in the general economy as well as an uptick in tourism. In the case of Orlando, tourism and the economy are deeply intertwined.

Technical

Taken over the last three years with Olympus cameras, a mix of E-3 and E-P2 and various lenses.

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