It’s been three years since Sarah and Susan Banks had the revelation over coffee at their Aunt Mary’s restaurant, where Sarah had worked summers putting herself through college. They had returned to Oak Hollow, the old neighborhood, to bury their grandmother – the family matriarch. Sarah would graduate with her MBA from State University in two months and Susan was a graphic designer in New York. The old neighborhood was tired and becoming tattered, but they liked it.
Why couldn’t they set up a business here, near their roots? Did they have to live a thousand miles away to make a decent income? No, they concluded over coffee. Things wouldn’t be so bad if they got the commercial property owners to spruce up Oak Street, tore down the rotting warehouse on Acorn Lane and found home buyers for the boarded up houses across from the vacant tool and die shop. With some common sense and smart marketing, Oak Street could draw customers from the Community College being built on the old switching yard just south of Oak Hollow.
Now it’s three years later and Oak Hollow is bustling.
