Hi everyone. Just trying to bounce a few ideas here. In my novel I'm trying to have one of the characters owning a large business in the town but am not sure what type of industry it could be in. He is an honest natured individual. The business would have a few dozen employees and yet not make the character who owns in vastly wealthy. I am looking for something that shows a real symbol of the community.
Undertakers (though two dozen employees might be a bit of a stretch). If you bury the town's dead with compassion (and have perhaps done so for a while (or your family has)) a very powerful bond with the community might be formed. I do like Sasha's local paper idea. Though it might be said that any line of business might fit so long as the owner has more than half an eye on the welfare of his employees and of the town.
A lumberyard, an agricultural supply store, a bus or taxi service, a machine shop, a truck plaza, a mail order outlet, a gravel quarry, a piecework factory...
i'm going to say bakery, meat or produce market. Those can get quite big especially if the demand is there and the town is bustling.
Local paper might work (feel free to PM me if you have local paper questions), but I agree most with the grocery store idea that's been pitched. People do tend to have strong preferences with grocery stores, whether it's price or better quality etc... Also, you need to determine the personality of the town. If it's a small seaside town in Maine, it'd probably be a seafood store with good prices that everyone knows and trusts. If it's a small town near a college that values education, maybe a family-owned bookstore that holds storytimes for the kids and programs that encourage them to read. If it's a town full of senior citizens who've retired, it might be the heart disease doctor who has good values and saves people's lives. Hope I helped!
Retail would get him in contact with many locals. Garden center was mentioned and would be a good choice. Or, how about furniture store - they're often large both financially and physically. Car dealership? -Frank
Furniture or car dealership would both be good. Unless it's something unique to the town (see my other post on this thread), in general, the bigger the investment the more the business will be considered....for example, if you're out with your friends after work you're not going to care that much whether you go to Burger King or McDonalds, but you will pay more attention to a retailer if you're going to spend $100s on something. The heavier the investment, the more reputation-focused the local company will have to be.
