The Madison would be nice. The Castle Theatre in Bloomington pulled in Robert Cray and has The Record Company and Lucinda Williams coming up, along with several people I've never heard of that are sold out.Second would be another good antique and resale/salvage shop.Some local shops along the lines of what's at Sheridan and Main would be a draw but there would have to be several in a cluster to make the trip and parking worthwhile.

A department store would be nice. Belk. Dillards. Something. I know it'll never happen. But you asked. Another office supply store besides Office Depot/Max would also be nice. They seem to have a monopoly in this area.

I think the downtown hotels should survey their guests on what they feel is missing and what they'd want to see.
I agree with the Madison getting re-opened. How many gazillion dollars has this city bestowed upon developers/ments that have gone belly up? I know I have been to the Castle twice and the Old Rock House in St. Louis once in the last six months. Two shows at Kenny's that I would have liked to have seen but other commitments took precedence.

:
The hotels have surveyed their guests ad nauseum since the hotel opened,. If a guest wasn't surveyed they volunteered the information. Number one on the wish list is a restaurant, preferably a family one, that is open late at night and early in the morning, They have many guests that arrive on the last flights that arrive PIA late at night or leave on the first flights out at 6am or so. The only real option is Hoops. Who wants pizza for breakfast or pizza ! Who wants it when it has been sitting for hours late at night? This subject comes up all the time in the pursuit of convention business to the hotels. The hotel management engaged people at very, very high level management at Marriott Headquarters. in their pursuit of businesses to the vicinity of the hotels. They have talked to powers that be at city hall etc. Now, that the civic center is doing don well vs. other civic centers around the country there is increased interest by various parties. Hopefully, something will come out of all this. Huge progress, of sorts, was made when Jufges Chambers closed. There were LOTS of concerns and comments about that place from hotel guests, hotel management and Marriott Headquarters. FINALLY, the space was taken over by The Neon Bison and things improved somewhat. Now they are talking about moving a block or so up Main St. So their current will become a prime location for some kind of restaurant or business. Another issue is the recent situation with the Riverside Plaza Bldg and the Chase Bank Bldg and how the tenants have been "temporarily" displaced.. The number is a large percent of foot traffic and downtown lunch hour business. No infication at all when things might return to normal Some of. the tenants in those bldgs. have relocated outside of downtown. Who knows if they will turn when or if the building problems will be reopened. Some kind of indication from the owners would be a very, very welcome sign, The residents of the Twin Towers would dearly love a second hand bookstore somewhere nearby. They have the one at the library which they love so that is a start. There seems to be a desire for some kind of arts and crafts store for some people working downtown and the Twim Tower residents. There are LOTS of very creative types living there. Possible locations mrentioned for the " wish list" are " the block on Main St. across from the courthouse, the block across from the Marriott and continuing up Main St. for a couple of blocks.

@billybob :
I remember the survey about a late night/early morning restaurant. The Pere and Four points both have restaurants in them. Seems if there is such a demand for late night/early morning food service, they'd be open?? Why would an independent restaurant try to make a go of it if they don't?

@AntiRanchDrssng : For breakfast, thePerfe Marquette does not start serving breakfast in the restaurant until 6am which is an improvement from 7am. It used to be that room service started at 6am. Dont know if that is earlier as the restaurant opens at 6am now. They serve food until 10pm and sometimes later.
There has a been extensive discussion about having 24 hr room service . Many hotels do have 24 hour room service. Some of them from a limited menu. The 2 4 hour room service went on the back burner, shall we say, when the labor shortage was an issue. That has gotten better as has the business from the civic center. There are a number of airline crews that layover in Peoria every night. The downtown hotels have not been able to attract that business at all due to the food issue late at night and early morning. Some of the crews are there for 3 meals. All that business has gone to various hotels in East Peoria.

Ok turn the new Homeless shelter into a shower, laundry, sleep and food station. Have cafeteria style food sit up, one floor for showers and laundry, one floor for rooms sleeping.

Grocery store.

@conrad:
There was one, of sorts, it was a very enhanced convenience store that was at the southeastern corner of Main and Madison, it opened a few years after the Marriott did. It was there awhile and eventually moved inside the Twin Towers Mall, Rumor had it they got a really nice deal on rent in the mall, However, they did not last long in there. They lost all the outdoor foot traffic etc, once they moved inside the mall. It is a shame because thst was a nice store.

@billybob :
It was a well kept secret once it went into the Towers Mall.