If you live in Rolling Meadows, there’s a good chance that you’ve wondered why we don’t have more of a traditional “downtown”.

Over the years businesses have come and gone, shopping centers have made way for condo developments and people flock to the next town over to shop and find new places to eat.

We are right in the middle of some of the biggest business districts outside of the city of Chicago.

Schaumburg has Woodfield Mall and tons of places to eat everywhere you look. Arlington Heights has an actual downtown district with food, drink & shopping, all within walking distance.

Now it is true that location is a huge factor when a business looks to open up.

Grouping business together creates an opportunity to share traffic and helps customers to find things that they didn’t know they were even looking for.

You may have seen a McDonalds right next to a Burger King, or a Shell across the street from a Citgo.

That’s because it creates a choice, it's healthy competition. It helps both businesses because they share the traffic based on the promotions and prices that they offer compared to the other.

Most of this is common sense, so back to the original question?

Why don’t we have a downtown?

Over time independent small businesses closed their doors as entertainment districts in neighboring towns grew, our city is sort of an in between zone at the moment. Residential development seems to be a safer bet.

You would think that Rolling Meadows would be a prime location since its right in between some of the largest suburbs in the area. We have a very close-knit and active community.

The average age is around 38 in this town, and yet businesses and shoppers still look to neighboring areas.

I guess we have to work with what we have.

Here’s the thing. We do have many great businesses in our community.

Almost too many to list… But here’s a few..

( Local Food & Drink )

( Maintenance & Repair )

( Local Retail )

We created RMTalk to help support the many small business and franchise owners around our community.

Next time you're looking for a service, product, or something to eat,

Check out our local business directory:

https://www.rmtalk.com/directory

Let’s keep our local businesses competitive, tell a friend.

If you have a business to suggest or would like to add something to Rolling Meadows Talk, let us know.

https://www.rmtalk.com/contact/suggest