Thanks gbrk! I know you have been here for years as well and I appreciate your posts. I actually live in Chattanooga and have for the past ten years, but I have friends and family in Florence and still visit often. I care very much about the Shoals and the happenings there. I do lurk on this board from time to time, I just find it hard to have something to contribute between all the political threads, in which I have zero interest of participating in!
I do believe the "brick and mortar", big-box retail market will be forever shrinking, so I hope the cities in the Shoals are preparing the best they can for that. As I mentioned above, I like what is happening in the downtown areas and I think even more focus in the future needs to be there, and additionally on "neighborhood" retail hubs that have disappeared, such as East Florence.