Do you have a vision for the continued revitalization of the South Seminole Heights downtown along Florida Avenue? Does it include corporate “chain” discount stores offering low-quality, non-local products and minimum wage jobs that siphon money out of our community, drive down home values and force independents out of business?

Family Dollar has announced plans to open a store in the big white building between the Independent Bar & Café and Tempus Projects art gallery, and the developer has evicted several independent businesses from the existing building, costing the area good jobs. Never mind that there are already at least 5 Family Dollars within a two -mile radius of the proposed location at 5102 N. Florida Ave. . What makes this one different is that it’s smack-dab in the middle of the budding “Downtown” of South Seminole Heights, a few-block area of brilliant, meticulously kept and independently owned restaurants and shops that embody our city’s “urban hub” concept for the area. Family Dollar’s move, together with the recent opening of a NAPA Auto Parts store in the former Post Office, could deal a huge blow to the decade-long revitalization.