Here Are The Businesses Worcester Residents Want In The City

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester has a healthy business community but there is always room to grow. Patch wanted to know what kinds of new businesses residents would like to see in the city and Worcester residents flooded the Facebook post comments with ideas and share some more on Worcester Patch's Neighbor Post.

It's hard to list all of the businesses residents want to see come to the city (there were over 50 comments with suggestions) but here are some of the most popular answers:

Entertainment

Worcester residents don't have to go too far for entertainment in the city, especially with the new Polar Park opening soon in the city. Still, residents had a few suggestions for what could help keep the good times rolling. One of the most popular suggestions was another movie theater. The city has one theater, a Showcase Cinemas, on Brooke Street. Another popular suggestion was a Dave & Buster's — a place the whole family can enjoy a meal and games.

Shopping

Worcester residents rattled off small businesses that could benefit the city including a pet boutique, an independent bookstore and shopping boutiques.

While there was tremendous support for small retail business, quite a few chain stores were mentioned. Among those franchises suggested was Costco, Hobby Lobby and Trader Joe's.

Restaurants

The majority of responses detailed some sort of local restaurant, fine dining or cafe. A vocal majority of residents called for a restaurant that focuses on healthy and vegan options, even naming Sweetgreen, a popular healthy franchise. There was also a high demand for a bakery-coffee shop duo, with one commenter eluding to the TV series "Friends" as the atmosphere they wanted.

Have some ideas you didn't see mentioned? Add them to the comments on Worcester's Facebook post: