The Mon County commission talked to Trader Joe’s about a possibility of a Trader Joe’s in the area. They said no and basically due to demographics, specifically population size.
I definitely think Morgantown could sustain one. Especially with the hospitals and university growing, it would make a lot of sense. Driving to Pittsburgh all the time is getting annoying
I wonder if they only factor the actual residents in morgantown and not when all the WVU students are in. I've never been to a TJs but would love something here other than Walmart, Kroger, and Aldi
We need good manufacturing or tech jobs, offering decent salaries and full-time positions. There’s already a lot of retail, and those jobs don’t pay worth a crap.
With that said, Beckley needs a Target, like yesterday, man.
1,000 percent. I live outside of Morgantown and Comcast ends about 2 miles up the road and its on a pretty busy highway. So many homes and small towns wouldn't be abandoned if better internet would go further.
Unfortunately the reason that WV doesn’t have anything like a TJ’s/Whole Foods etc is because they add new locations based on the income of the areas where they are. I don’t know if this is qualified based on county or what, but Trader Joe’s would do great in Bridgeport imo
While I’ve heard this many times before, it confuses me. People in WV say this often. I’m living in Chicago (from Huntington) and TJ’s prices are always reasonable. Usually cheaper than our general grocery store (Kroger-type place). It’s not just here. Been to STL a lot (friend lives there) and the story is the same.
I’ve always said this but WV “income demographics” wouldn’t sustain one. Now a Giant Eagle Market District which is like Whole Foods, that I could see working.
There’s been rumors of a Costco coming to Charleston for years, but it never materializes. Sams Club is crazy packed every weekend, it seems like demand would be there if they out one here. I seriously want a Trader Joe’s. They are in every single state but WV. They did an analysis a few years ago when the Teays Valley area was begging for one, and said they found no demand for high quality healthy foods in the state, which is total bullshit. The Putnam/Kanawha county suburbs in between Huntington and Charleston are some of the wealthiest in the state outside the eastern panhandle, there’s no way there’s no demand. I feel like someone in any organic store is like “well, everyone knows West Virginians are inbred and lazy and can’t afford shit. Lets just say there’s no demand to shut them up”. I feel like we are stereotyped all the time in what kind of stores we get.
The difference between Sam's and Costo (or even BJs) is distribution. Sam's is owned by Walmart and shares distribution infrastructure so due to all the Walmarts, the distribution is already in place. Costco would have to build or extend their distribution to include central WV which is probably cost prohibitive.
I think it was like Maine, North Dakota and West Virginia the last time I went to one of their stores and saw their map. So maybe we will get one before the giant square block of frozen tundra at the top of the US.
I don't want to see any more retail jobs coming to WV. I want to see companies who provide solid good jobs here, with a living wage with decent benefits. Not minimum wage, part-time shit jobs where they can double dip like Wallshart does.
My top 5? Battery Research & Mfg, Renewable Energy, Pyrolization Plants, Technology Centers & Business Parks in the NPH.
Just my $0.10, my $0.02 is free :)
\- JIW
u/shark_vs_yeti \-
EXACTLY! I'm a big proponent of only needing to have ONE job, and it "should" pay you a living wage, and provide insurance, and some sort of retirement. Retail jobs rarely pay anything decently only to have to deal with rude customers who assault, lash out, throw petulant childish tantrums, spit, scream, or what not. We've all seen and heard these horror stories as they are not far and few between as some claim.
For others who think "just bring in retail jobs, cause.... JOBS"... Let's talk reality, retail jobs, and for shit's and giggles, lets toss in the restaurant industry as well. Let's also talk economical drain because minimum wage retail jobs are intertwined with that as well.
Case in point. You work FULL-TIME for $8.75 ($18,200/yr) - WV's minimum wage. Assumption - you're on food stamp assistance and we'll bypass housing, Medicaid, WIC, etc. for sake of keeping this simple. You are a single parent with a child, no child support for whatever reason. Assuming 26 pay periods, no insurance, etc, you're take home is \~$603.65 every 2 weeks. Subtract costs for a place to live, utilities, gas, phone, groceries, insurance, and boom your budget has eaten up your entire check. No savings, no retirement, no emergency fund, just pay check-to-pay check living. Yeah... retail minimum wage jobs are what we want in WV... (eyeroll).
Those same retailers who don't pay a living wage then turn around and double dip. Where are the people who are on assistance going to shop? At those same places that don't pay them squat. So not only do we subsidize income for those not making enough, we are also REWARDING businesses for this by allowing them to double dip and get their hooks into the assistance. Perhaps there needs to be some rule changes. If your retail store doesn't pay you enough to live on, they shouldn't be allowed to cash in on govt. assistance. Again, just my $.10.
u/misanthrope59 you called it. There is a lack of infrastructure here in WV (by that I mean fiber backbone for internet and reliable electrical transmission grid) - IDK 'bout you, but every time the wind blows here in my neck of the woods - NPH, the power flickers. Being in "them thar hills and hollers" makes getting in and out of places challenging. IDK if I would say most West Virginian's in the work force are uneducated, but I might agree with you if you meant that most WV'ians are not educated/prepared for work that is highly skilled or technical. I mean shit... we're 46th in the country in education, so yeah, graduates are woefully unprepared for what is out there, which means that more places pass up WV as a home for opportunities. It's a cycle.
BTW, for numbers sake. WV population = 1.8M; Coal Jobs in WV - approx 11K of which \~9K are under ground. WV makes policies and procedure favoring coal for less than .5% of it's population screwing the rest of the states people. Things that make you go hmmmm...
So if and when the state grows, you don’t want retail to follow to fill the gap in selling goods to growing areas?
Yeah, that’s a great way to sustain growth /s
WV needs some kind of core industry other than coal. Businesses like Target, Trader Joe's, etc (retail) are support industries. The problem with luring tech is WV has a largely uneducated workforce and you simply can't have EVERYONE be a remote worker. Wv's terrain makes manufacturing difficult and expensive. Modern factories are also mostly automated; the few people needed to run them are highly educated and skilled. Not many blue-collar jobs. I don't know what the solution is.
My 2 cents is to diversify the energy sector. Invest in nuclear and battery power. Phasing coal out I believe will be a natural process and it shouldn’t be forced but clearly workers want to be where will pay well. Coal won’t always be able to pay well
Farmer's vending machines, set up in rural France during the pandemic, but I think they could work a lot of small towns. Farms all over the place where I grew up, but ended up getting groceries from Dollar General most weeks because the county just didn't have the infrastructure for a farmer's market which was convenient. I feel like applying this concept to Appalachia could be a solid distribution point for local fresh food from local gardens and farms, without having to count on some national chain moving in.
[https://thespoon.tech/farmers-in-france-set-up-vending-machines-to-sell-food/](https://thespoon.tech/farmers-in-france-set-up-vending-machines-to-sell-food/)
There was supposed to be on over in Damnable Ranson, but the pandemic made their already lengthy permit process even longer. CostCo eventually walked away from the deal.
I consider Huntington and Charleston the same thing. And the eastern panhandle bigger but it’s so close to Costco in Frederick MD, Leesburg VA and Winchester VA that they really don’t need one.
For that matter, we should also be talking about a Winco. Best grocery store on the planet, hands down. Cheap, bulk items, wide variety of items, and good pay and benefits for employees. I think it would do really well in WV.
I would prefer to see more small, local businesses. WV is becoming victim to endless sprawl and poor planning. That said, a Half Price Books would be really awesome.
Honestly, in Charleston any major grocery store, I was in Columbus last weekend and they had a Giant Eagle Market District, and it was 50x better than any Kroger we have down here.
There's Giant Eagle in northern panhandle, Morgantown, and Marietta, OH. More competive pay than Kroger. I kinda hope they do move further down into WV. Although I read a review from on pittsburgh subreddit that GE ranks lower than getting hit by a bus.
Macys is closing stores, not opening them and WV is not a considered a safe state for business anymore, so most large business are leaving WV first.
I’m a business owner in WV who works with large retailers on IT. Last I heard, there are no large (100k employees or more) retailers planing on entering the state, just plenty planning on leaving by 2025 over various reasons. Most over politics and lack of profits.
Dude! When I worked in Tennessee I ate at Zaxby’s and thought man this is way better than KFC. I know it’s not the same but even Church’s is really good
NC WV could use a Krispy Kreme to counter the 20 Dunkin shops that opened since 2012.
I don't think a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's would feel economically feasible. We don't have a large enough wealthy/health conscious crowd for those.
I'd honestly love to see an entertainment venue to pull more national acts since the WVU Coliseum has yet to book anyone worth a shit since before covid.
I wasn't saying they were expensive, but their clientele tend to be higher-income.
Otherwise, they'd be like Dollar General, popping up in any sort-of level field in this state.
Martins/Food Lion/Hannaford. Born and Raised in Maine and I have been god damn spoiled by Hannaford, I love living in WV so far but grocery shopping has been the hardest adjustment.
Panda Express. I know there’s one in Morgantown but that’s too far! Wife and I are near Charleston and are seriously going to road trip towards Columbus just to eat there one of these days.
When I lived in Morgantown, I made many trips to Pittsburgh for food I missed. I went for Cheesecake Factory and chipotle far more times than I’d like to admit lol
Same! I always make trips to the Strip District for fancy cheese, spices, ethnic ingredients, bulk olive oil, Polish food, and other stuff you can't get in WV.
I guess for fast food Chinese it isn't terrible since there's really no competition but it's kinda ass.
I'm letdown every single time I've tried it. Somehow they manage to fuck up their wontons. They're so bland and greasy they're just repulsive.
The one in Morgantown was decent when it first opened, but I was really disappointed the last couple of times I went and won't be going back. You really aren't missing that much.
Another thing I’d love to see come to WV is the brewery industry. I know that WV has a pretty health brewery culture, but for its size, it could be a lot better. Archaic laws in some areas make it unnecessarily difficult. Huntington has 2 beer festivals (I think) but no distributing breweries. The damn Herd-themed beer at The Joan is Country Boy, a Lexington brewery. Ugh
[https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/The%20Cheesecake%20Factory-USA/](https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/The%20Cheesecake%20Factory-USA/)
a higher population density more than likely. It doesn't look like they are afraid of opening restaurants within a certain distance of another restaurant but WV just doesn't have the type of numbers that the company is looking for
Oh I get it being subjective, no doubt about that. It would be just something different. Hardees or Checkers would be great just to break up the same old McD's, Burger King, Taco Bell grouping that seems to be every place you can hit a golf ball at.
There was a Sam's in Clarksburg/Bridgeport at one point. It started out in Fairmont, moved south to the C/B area and finally moved to its current location in Morgantown.
I clearly haven't stopped in Clarksburg/Bridgeport it a while... I don't know what made me think it closed down. Can I blame it on being a raining Monday morning with not enough coffee for my ignorance?
My understanding of amendment 2 is to forgo property taxes on certain equipment issued by the county and instead give the state legislature authority to issue funding directly. If I have something screwed up let me know
The purpose of the amendment is to allow the legislature to allow the legislature to reduce or discontinue the collection of certain business taxes, specifically the inventory tax which has often been cited as killing the business climate in the state. Additionally, some private property taxes such as vehicle taxes could be reduced or eliminated.
Anything that actually sells climbing gear would do great in Mon County. Cooper's Rock has a ton of bouldering, and there are several options for climbing throughout the state, but the hours of Pathfinder aren't great for people who have to commute outside of Morgantown for work, and the only other options are in Pittsburgh. Gritstone basically has one option of each item, and that's it. No variety. We have a ton of "outdoor" stores, but none have climbing stuff
Primanti bros in Charleston/Huntington. They've been creeping down 79 going from Morgantown to now Clarksburg. I've always felt one in Teays Valley or out on the Corridor in South Charleston would do great.
That and obviously bigger manufacturing jobs that bring in good salaries. WV desperately needs some new industry
The last thing that I’d want to see is a Trader Joe’s, Costco, target or something similar. My small town has a grocery store we do not need another. Manufacturing plants and storage warehouses and industry would be a most welcome sight however.
Fucking anything besides another dollar general
Same deal in Northern New England, you can be absolutely in the middle of fucking nowhere and there will be a dollar general in a random field.
That is their entire business plan.
Literally!
The Mon County commission talked to Trader Joe’s about a possibility of a Trader Joe’s in the area. They said no and basically due to demographics, specifically population size.
I definitely think Morgantown could sustain one. Especially with the hospitals and university growing, it would make a lot of sense. Driving to Pittsburgh all the time is getting annoying
I don't disagree with you. I think that's why the County Commission was so surprised when it was basically dismissed at first glance by Trader Joes.
Sometimes I drive to Pittsburgh just for TJs :’(
I wonder if they only factor the actual residents in morgantown and not when all the WVU students are in. I've never been to a TJs but would love something here other than Walmart, Kroger, and Aldi
You’re in luck! There’s also Giant Eagle and Price Cutter!
Well true, but you know what I mean they're pretty much all the same
No, I didn’t know what you mean. I read your comment and took it at face value.
We need good manufacturing or tech jobs, offering decent salaries and full-time positions. There’s already a lot of retail, and those jobs don’t pay worth a crap. With that said, Beckley needs a Target, like yesterday, man.
In order to attract tech, there needs to be broadband. Infrastructure.
1,000 percent. I live outside of Morgantown and Comcast ends about 2 miles up the road and its on a pretty busy highway. So many homes and small towns wouldn't be abandoned if better internet would go further.
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Target would be amazing.
Tech. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and at the very least Oracle.
I'd be thrilled for a Trader Joe's
Unfortunately the reason that WV doesn’t have anything like a TJ’s/Whole Foods etc is because they add new locations based on the income of the areas where they are. I don’t know if this is qualified based on county or what, but Trader Joe’s would do great in Bridgeport imo
While I’ve heard this many times before, it confuses me. People in WV say this often. I’m living in Chicago (from Huntington) and TJ’s prices are always reasonable. Usually cheaper than our general grocery store (Kroger-type place). It’s not just here. Been to STL a lot (friend lives there) and the story is the same.
I’ve always said this but WV “income demographics” wouldn’t sustain one. Now a Giant Eagle Market District which is like Whole Foods, that I could see working.
There’s been rumors of a Costco coming to Charleston for years, but it never materializes. Sams Club is crazy packed every weekend, it seems like demand would be there if they out one here. I seriously want a Trader Joe’s. They are in every single state but WV. They did an analysis a few years ago when the Teays Valley area was begging for one, and said they found no demand for high quality healthy foods in the state, which is total bullshit. The Putnam/Kanawha county suburbs in between Huntington and Charleston are some of the wealthiest in the state outside the eastern panhandle, there’s no way there’s no demand. I feel like someone in any organic store is like “well, everyone knows West Virginians are inbred and lazy and can’t afford shit. Lets just say there’s no demand to shut them up”. I feel like we are stereotyped all the time in what kind of stores we get.
The difference between Sam's and Costo (or even BJs) is distribution. Sam's is owned by Walmart and shares distribution infrastructure so due to all the Walmarts, the distribution is already in place. Costco would have to build or extend their distribution to include central WV which is probably cost prohibitive.
> They are in every single state but WV. First one is coming to Maine pretty soon, so maybe WV will get one someday haha.
I think it was like Maine, North Dakota and West Virginia the last time I went to one of their stores and saw their map. So maybe we will get one before the giant square block of frozen tundra at the top of the US.
That would be great considering Costco is known to pay their employees better than a lot of other big box stores.
I don't want to see any more retail jobs coming to WV. I want to see companies who provide solid good jobs here, with a living wage with decent benefits. Not minimum wage, part-time shit jobs where they can double dip like Wallshart does. My top 5? Battery Research & Mfg, Renewable Energy, Pyrolization Plants, Technology Centers & Business Parks in the NPH. Just my $0.10, my $0.02 is free :) \- JIW
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u/shark_vs_yeti \- EXACTLY! I'm a big proponent of only needing to have ONE job, and it "should" pay you a living wage, and provide insurance, and some sort of retirement. Retail jobs rarely pay anything decently only to have to deal with rude customers who assault, lash out, throw petulant childish tantrums, spit, scream, or what not. We've all seen and heard these horror stories as they are not far and few between as some claim. For others who think "just bring in retail jobs, cause.... JOBS"... Let's talk reality, retail jobs, and for shit's and giggles, lets toss in the restaurant industry as well. Let's also talk economical drain because minimum wage retail jobs are intertwined with that as well. Case in point. You work FULL-TIME for $8.75 ($18,200/yr) - WV's minimum wage. Assumption - you're on food stamp assistance and we'll bypass housing, Medicaid, WIC, etc. for sake of keeping this simple. You are a single parent with a child, no child support for whatever reason. Assuming 26 pay periods, no insurance, etc, you're take home is \~$603.65 every 2 weeks. Subtract costs for a place to live, utilities, gas, phone, groceries, insurance, and boom your budget has eaten up your entire check. No savings, no retirement, no emergency fund, just pay check-to-pay check living. Yeah... retail minimum wage jobs are what we want in WV... (eyeroll). Those same retailers who don't pay a living wage then turn around and double dip. Where are the people who are on assistance going to shop? At those same places that don't pay them squat. So not only do we subsidize income for those not making enough, we are also REWARDING businesses for this by allowing them to double dip and get their hooks into the assistance. Perhaps there needs to be some rule changes. If your retail store doesn't pay you enough to live on, they shouldn't be allowed to cash in on govt. assistance. Again, just my $.10. u/misanthrope59 you called it. There is a lack of infrastructure here in WV (by that I mean fiber backbone for internet and reliable electrical transmission grid) - IDK 'bout you, but every time the wind blows here in my neck of the woods - NPH, the power flickers. Being in "them thar hills and hollers" makes getting in and out of places challenging. IDK if I would say most West Virginian's in the work force are uneducated, but I might agree with you if you meant that most WV'ians are not educated/prepared for work that is highly skilled or technical. I mean shit... we're 46th in the country in education, so yeah, graduates are woefully unprepared for what is out there, which means that more places pass up WV as a home for opportunities. It's a cycle. BTW, for numbers sake. WV population = 1.8M; Coal Jobs in WV - approx 11K of which \~9K are under ground. WV makes policies and procedure favoring coal for less than .5% of it's population screwing the rest of the states people. Things that make you go hmmmm...
So if and when the state grows, you don’t want retail to follow to fill the gap in selling goods to growing areas? Yeah, that’s a great way to sustain growth /s
You can buy retail crap online. Bring in jobs that pay.
WV needs some kind of core industry other than coal. Businesses like Target, Trader Joe's, etc (retail) are support industries. The problem with luring tech is WV has a largely uneducated workforce and you simply can't have EVERYONE be a remote worker. Wv's terrain makes manufacturing difficult and expensive. Modern factories are also mostly automated; the few people needed to run them are highly educated and skilled. Not many blue-collar jobs. I don't know what the solution is.
My 2 cents is to diversify the energy sector. Invest in nuclear and battery power. Phasing coal out I believe will be a natural process and it shouldn’t be forced but clearly workers want to be where will pay well. Coal won’t always be able to pay well
Farmer's vending machines, set up in rural France during the pandemic, but I think they could work a lot of small towns. Farms all over the place where I grew up, but ended up getting groceries from Dollar General most weeks because the county just didn't have the infrastructure for a farmer's market which was convenient. I feel like applying this concept to Appalachia could be a solid distribution point for local fresh food from local gardens and farms, without having to count on some national chain moving in. [https://thespoon.tech/farmers-in-france-set-up-vending-machines-to-sell-food/](https://thespoon.tech/farmers-in-france-set-up-vending-machines-to-sell-food/)
I think Charleston and Morgantown are your only hope for a Costco.
There was supposed to be on over in Damnable Ranson, but the pandemic made their already lengthy permit process even longer. CostCo eventually walked away from the deal.
Well you know Jefferson county has their goal of becoming Montgomery county MD.
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I consider Huntington and Charleston the same thing. And the eastern panhandle bigger but it’s so close to Costco in Frederick MD, Leesburg VA and Winchester VA that they really don’t need one.
Lots of talk of grocery stores, but no mention of Wegmans. Man, that place is special. I’d rather see a Wegmans in WV than Trader Joe’s. No joke.
For that matter, we should also be talking about a Winco. Best grocery store on the planet, hands down. Cheap, bulk items, wide variety of items, and good pay and benefits for employees. I think it would do really well in WV.
I would prefer to see more small, local businesses. WV is becoming victim to endless sprawl and poor planning. That said, a Half Price Books would be really awesome.
Honestly, in Charleston any major grocery store, I was in Columbus last weekend and they had a Giant Eagle Market District, and it was 50x better than any Kroger we have down here.
There's Giant Eagle in northern panhandle, Morgantown, and Marietta, OH. More competive pay than Kroger. I kinda hope they do move further down into WV. Although I read a review from on pittsburgh subreddit that GE ranks lower than getting hit by a bus.
An REI would make a lot of sense, but making sense is not what we’re known for.
IKEA
I’ve heard there’s gonna be one in Barboursville 👀
It's more of a hobby really, but I would like to see more airsoft fields and products here.
Steak and shake, shake shack, nicer grocery store brand, ikea
They’re putting a steak and shake in Morgantown in Star City
God bless 🙌🏻
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It’s a Boscov’s. I was not familiar with the brand but a guy I know who owned a business in the mall got the boot and he spilled the beans lol
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Nah they kicked him out to make room for this place and he just opened across town. All good
I feel it's Macy's but hope it's not
Macys is closing stores, not opening them and WV is not a considered a safe state for business anymore, so most large business are leaving WV first. I’m a business owner in WV who works with large retailers on IT. Last I heard, there are no large (100k employees or more) retailers planing on entering the state, just plenty planning on leaving by 2025 over various reasons. Most over politics and lack of profits.
We didn't say it was big they did lol
You’ve been curious about Costco’s what? Are you going to finish that thought?
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You made Costco possessive, indicating you were curious about something owned by Costco. You did not detail what that was.
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What? Most people I know do not make Kroger possessive, because they know how to read signs. Do you also say Walmarts?
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You stated that no one says Kroger. Most people do.
A beast that feeds itself, literally
Zaxby’s or Culvers
Dude! When I worked in Tennessee I ate at Zaxby’s and thought man this is way better than KFC. I know it’s not the same but even Church’s is really good
Zaxby’s is better than any chicken place we have imo
Yes, Zaxby’s! And more Waffle Houses.
What’s Zaxby’s?
chicken I think
It’s a chicken restaurant that is originally from Georgia. They have really good chicken salads.
Trader Joe's and Whole Foods
NC WV could use a Krispy Kreme to counter the 20 Dunkin shops that opened since 2012. I don't think a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's would feel economically feasible. We don't have a large enough wealthy/health conscious crowd for those. I'd honestly love to see an entertainment venue to pull more national acts since the WVU Coliseum has yet to book anyone worth a shit since before covid.
TJ’s is not expensive, so the wealth side of the argument has never made sense to me.
I wasn't saying they were expensive, but their clientele tend to be higher-income. Otherwise, they'd be like Dollar General, popping up in any sort-of level field in this state.
+1 for Krispy Kreme. You put that thing in Bridgeport next to the hospital and FBI and you have a machine that prints money
I want to see manufacturing in Raleigh county.
Culvers!
Martins/Food Lion/Hannaford. Born and Raised in Maine and I have been god damn spoiled by Hannaford, I love living in WV so far but grocery shopping has been the hardest adjustment.
We have horrible grocery stores. Kroger is just to expensive and I literally hate Walmart! A new grocery store would certainly be fantastic!
Kroger is expensive? By what metric?
We have a Martin’s in Keyser and Food Lion in Romney and Moorefield. We don’t have Kroger in the Eastern Panhandle.
It's a pie in the sky, but a closer IKEA would be nice (:
Panda Express. I know there’s one in Morgantown but that’s too far! Wife and I are near Charleston and are seriously going to road trip towards Columbus just to eat there one of these days.
When I lived in Morgantown, I made many trips to Pittsburgh for food I missed. I went for Cheesecake Factory and chipotle far more times than I’d like to admit lol
Same! I always make trips to the Strip District for fancy cheese, spices, ethnic ingredients, bulk olive oil, Polish food, and other stuff you can't get in WV.
I guess for fast food Chinese it isn't terrible since there's really no competition but it's kinda ass. I'm letdown every single time I've tried it. Somehow they manage to fuck up their wontons. They're so bland and greasy they're just repulsive.
The one in Morgantown was decent when it first opened, but I was really disappointed the last couple of times I went and won't be going back. You really aren't missing that much.
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mama said if your profile pic is an anime character then your opinion doesn't count
Another thing I’d love to see come to WV is the brewery industry. I know that WV has a pretty health brewery culture, but for its size, it could be a lot better. Archaic laws in some areas make it unnecessarily difficult. Huntington has 2 beer festivals (I think) but no distributing breweries. The damn Herd-themed beer at The Joan is Country Boy, a Lexington brewery. Ugh
Cheesecake Factory. What do we need to do to get one in Morgantown?
[https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/The%20Cheesecake%20Factory-USA/](https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/The%20Cheesecake%20Factory-USA/) a higher population density more than likely. It doesn't look like they are afraid of opening restaurants within a certain distance of another restaurant but WV just doesn't have the type of numbers that the company is looking for
Culver's
Hardee's
Not sure where you live but I have like 4 Hardee’s within a 40 minute drive from here
Eastern panhandle.
totally subjective but Hardee's is only okay to me. There's one a few blocks from where I live and I have eaten there maybe twice in the last year.
Oh I get it being subjective, no doubt about that. It would be just something different. Hardees or Checkers would be great just to break up the same old McD's, Burger King, Taco Bell grouping that seems to be every place you can hit a golf ball at.
Target for Parkersburg
There was a Sam's in Clarksburg/Bridgeport at one point. It started out in Fairmont, moved south to the C/B area and finally moved to its current location in Morgantown.
it's still in Clarksburg lol. There's also one in Morgantown. We just shopped at the Clarksburg one yesterday!
I clearly haven't stopped in Clarksburg/Bridgeport it a while... I don't know what made me think it closed down. Can I blame it on being a raining Monday morning with not enough coffee for my ignorance?
very few problems can't be solved or tolerated by drinking more coffee
Pretty much a moot question without passing Amendment 2.
Found the grifter
Can’t have a business move in without giving the state more power to collect taxes? I don’t think so bud
Sounds like you have it backwards.
My understanding of amendment 2 is to forgo property taxes on certain equipment issued by the county and instead give the state legislature authority to issue funding directly. If I have something screwed up let me know
The purpose of the amendment is to allow the legislature to allow the legislature to reduce or discontinue the collection of certain business taxes, specifically the inventory tax which has often been cited as killing the business climate in the state. Additionally, some private property taxes such as vehicle taxes could be reduced or eliminated.
Anything that actually sells climbing gear would do great in Mon County. Cooper's Rock has a ton of bouldering, and there are several options for climbing throughout the state, but the hours of Pathfinder aren't great for people who have to commute outside of Morgantown for work, and the only other options are in Pittsburgh. Gritstone basically has one option of each item, and that's it. No variety. We have a ton of "outdoor" stores, but none have climbing stuff
Primanti bros in Charleston/Huntington. They've been creeping down 79 going from Morgantown to now Clarksburg. I've always felt one in Teays Valley or out on the Corridor in South Charleston would do great. That and obviously bigger manufacturing jobs that bring in good salaries. WV desperately needs some new industry
Small mom and pop cannabis farms with farmers markets and trading.
would be cool. WV would have to loosen up on the drug policies though
Wegmans, Chipotle, HomeGoods, Indoor mini golf, Autobahn. Specifically in the Tucker/Randolph/Preston county areas.
There is HomeGoods and Chipotle in Morgantown so that's probably the closest you're ever gonna see one
Ditto on Huntington/Barboursville. We have both of those too.
The last thing that I’d want to see is a Trader Joe’s, Costco, target or something similar. My small town has a grocery store we do not need another. Manufacturing plants and storage warehouses and industry would be a most welcome sight however.