This week’s Friday Five for the RevGals (posted by Mary Beth):

There’s so much going on right now…holidays, weather, politics, church politics, Advent! Let’s think outside all of those boxes today. Who knows, maybe when we retire we can all get together and open someone’s dream store…

These Friday Five questions courtesy of Friday 5:
If you suddenly received a ton of money and could open up some kind of store or service just for the pleasure of having it (assume it wouldn’t have to be too financially successful!), what would it be? I think it would be a brewpub and feminist book shop. We could call it S/Hebrews.

What service or store that no longer exists do you miss most? There was a really cool outlet/salvage store that my family frequented in South Carolina called DelMar. It is no longer. You never knew what you would find. You didn’t expect fancy displays or high couture (think of it as a grungy Marshall’s). But the bargains were big bargains. And the entertainment value of some of the stuff was quite fun.

What local business do you think you could make better if you were to take it over? And if you don’t mind sharing, what changes would you make?  When I am Empress of the Universe, I will take over the local grocery store chains and teach them how to bag groceries. Seriously. Eggs and lettuce do NOT go on the bottom of the bag with cans on top. It’s why I go to the “bag-your-own” lane so that I can choose how my groceries go in the bag.

What spot nearby seems to be impossible for businesses to survive in? There is a restaurant at the corner of a local expressway exit and beside a large shopping center. It’s been a Mexican restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and a Japanese steakhouse — all in the last 5 years. The problem is that half the time, you can’t figure out how to get IN the parking lot. There is only entrance/exit and it is off of a ramp to a gas station. I hear that the current place is pretty good (Japanese steakhouse) but again, there are hardly ever any cars in the parking lot.

We’ve all seen stores that combined books and records, beer and laundry, or coffee and whatever. One of my favorite places to get coffee in Honolulu is a cafe and florist, and there is a car garage that’s also a diner in a town nearby. What would be a cool hybrid of two disparate ideas for somewhere you’d like to hang out? How about a bookstore/coffee bar and a mani/pedi place? While you are waiting for your polish to dry, you can browse the shelves in your oh-so-divine disposable flip flops. 🙂