As much as the so-called down economy tries to hurt us, the city of Demopolis seems to be able to attract businesses.

Most recently, we have added Dirt Cheap and Penn’s Restaurant. We now welcome our newest addition, Vowell’s Market Place.

Like Penn’s Restaurant, Vowell’s is a Mississippi chain seeking to increase its business footprint into Alabama. Also like Penn’s, Vowell’s first venture into our state is right here in our town.

Vowell’s is expected to provide sharp competition with our other grocery outlets right off the bat. Competition is good for the stores’ customers and good for business.

New businesses mean more jobs for our area. If those businesses can prosper and grow like Marvin’s did, that means growth for Demopolis in sales tax revenue and even more jobs with expansion.

We look forward to continuing our trend of new business coming to Demopolis. We welcome our newest neighbor, Vowell’s, and wish it well.