Tall Oaks: Hope Blooms Eternal Pt. 2: The postcard is mightier than the sword

Ever since the awesome Tall Oaks Giant closed last year, leaving behind an eerie wasteland of empty shelves and stucco in the mostly vacant shopping center, people have been hoping that Bloom, Food Lion's less bleachy, non-Nascar-intensive grocery chain, would take its place. Turns out Bloom may well be interested after all.

According to the campaign’s initiator, Tara Coonin, decision makers at Bloom have told her that the grocery store is interested in the space formerly occupied by Giant. She said more than 1,500 postcards were mailed to Bloom to encourage the store to open at Tall Oaks.

That awesome postcard campaign actually may have worked. Yay! Of course, there's one small hitch:

However, she said, the chain is reluctant to move into the space until better signage for the shopping center is placed on Wiehle Avenue. Coonin said the leasing company for Tall Oaks, KLNB, has tasked a consultant with a signage study for the area.

Awesome! Maybe they'll erect a giant blinking neon sign surrounded by spotlights visible from outer space. Or at least replace the missing letter from the word "Center" on the existing sign. But how do we get those pencil-pushing bureaucrats to move from a "signage study" to a... well, an actual freaking sign? How 'bout another petition!

The petition, found here, states that the undersigned "understand Bloom has begun negotiations with Tall Oaks Village Center to open a store where Giant was previously located. We would like the process of opening a Bloom to be done in a timely, efficient manner by all parties involved so that Bloom will be opening its doors to the public as soon as possible."

Next up: Convincing a Captain D's to take the place of the shuttered stucco Burger King.