Avon Park Hungry For Restaurants

Start at the new Wal-Mart and travel south down U.S. 27. There's the Olympic, a Greek restaurant, six blocks away.

Within 10 blocks, there's also Pizza Hut, KFC and Arby's.

And that's the problem, says Dave Greenslade, executive director of Avon Park Chamber of Commerce: shopping and restaurant decisions go together. If Wal-Mart is the destination of shoppers from Sun 'N Lake or Wauchula, they will often choose a restaurant at the same time.

Should they turn south, where they can find another Wal-Mart, along with a mall, Olive Garden, Panera's, Chili's, Red Lobster, Outback, etc.?

The fewer the restaurants, the fewer the shoppers, Greenslade said.

"At least one, if not two new restaurants would bring new life and excitement to Avon Park," said Greenslade. "An Applebee's, Smokey Bones, or whatever."

His personal wish: CarraBba's. There are 240 Italian Grills around the country, and Greenslade wants No. 241 to open in Avon Park.

The new Wal-Mart would be an obvious location for restaurants, but the five parcels in front aren't even for sale or lease yet, said Gene Mooney, executive vice president of Ben Hill Griffin Inc.

"We don't have any immediate plans," Mooney said Tuesday. "We're waiting for the Wal-Mart to get open. We've had a bunch of people inquiring about it. Nothing is leased so far."

Griffin purposely hasn't decided which businesses could go there, Mooney said.

"We want to make sure it's positive for the city of Avon Park," Mooney said. "We only want a business that will be a draw to the area."

Some businesses would not be an advantage, and Griffin will exclude those, Mooney said. He does not know when a decision will be made.