I received a report about an hour ago from Ramon reporting that after 36 years of business in Decatur, B&L Medical Laboratory at 149 Sycamore Street was moving to Norcross.
The receptionist at the lab confirmed the move to me minutes ago, though she was not able to provide details as to why they were leaving.
Latest from Decaturish
Pat
At Home in Decatur
At Home in Decatur
lyn menne
TomL
brianc
smith
GreenTea
Michael
spreak
spreak
DEM
Monty
Bullseye
Jeff of maps and bik…
I can’t wait to see what goes in the space
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, they’ve been there for 36 years, would have been nice to see them relocate within Decatur to one of the nearby office/medical buildings. On the other, I agree with Joe…can’t wait to see who/what replaces them.
The Dr. there is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He took care of me for free once when I was broke and really ill. I am sad to see him go… I am sure the rent is sky high because of it’s location.
Dr. Rodriguez is one of the most noble people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I understand that he’s always run his business in a generous way, helping people who need it, even if they can’t afford the help. It’s a true loss to have someone of his character move their business out of Decatur.
I know Doctor Rodriguez personally and agree that he is a Doctor for “all the right reasons”.
Never met Dr. Rodriguez but I’ve heard wonderful things about him. Thankful he was able to contribute to the community for so long. Plus, I always smiled reading his sign–VD testing AND passport photos! Thanks for your service, Dr. Rodriguez!
You must have missed the massive VD outbreak of Decatur 1998. It was so bad, many chose to leave the country.
kudos for that one!
Genius!
Sad to see it go even if our experience there was stressful – immigration medical (well the whole process is stressful). But Dr Rodriguez was extremely nice – the rest of the of the staff was a bit more abrupt. I was happy to hear that the facade was to be spruced up but then maybe the landlord wanted to pass on those costs on top of high rent. Also a lot of the business seemed to be related to immigration Medicals – norcross will probably generate more business than Decatur.
I really hope the convenience store next to it stays, but I have my doubts.
The offending and associated comments have been removed.
This is a bit of a gray area moderation-wise, but while specific criticisms of businesses are acceptable here, the vaguer they are, the more I would argue that they approach “personal attacks”. Especially when concerning small businesses associated with local individuals.
At the end of the day this is a community blog that hopes to advance dialogue, not provide a forum that passes along overgeneralized criticisms to long-standing business owners who are moving on.
Thanks. I think you should offer these people a choice, allow the comment to stay with the posters name and email address added or removal of the comment. Maybe you already do this.
I never met Dr. Rodriguez but based on most of the comments, he seemed to be a good man and the City of Decatur benefited from his business. 36 years- Mid 1970s? Interviewing Dr. Rodriguez as to the changes he witnessed might be an interesting story. I believe that Clark Records and Rice’s Gift Shop were still on the square in 1974.
Well, that’s what ya got. A bunch of whiners. I’ve never seen more self centered people in my life. It’s like if they don’t get it, destroy it. You do a great job of bringing the news in Decatur. Glad you moderate this stuff. Sheesh, grow a life people or move outside the perimeter.
Thanks, but if you’re looking for more self-centered people go check out any less-moderated site. AJC’s a nice starting place!
I LOVE THAT SIGN! I am going to be so sad to see it go.
And very sad that a business that’s been here for 36 years is relocating.
Can’t believe there’s not other space closer than Norcross. Not that it matters, but there’s more behind this decision than simply high rent on the square. They sound like nice people – I wish them luck, and wait anxiously to see what comes next.
Maybe an organic, fair trade, whole grain, carbon neutral, gender blind, solar powered, non judgmental, low VOC, hemp basket encouraging, flower shop/ bagel bakery. With gourmet frozen yogurt and crepes. And growlers.
Another way that this blog has helped me: I had a completely different impression of this clinic/laboratory. Because that alley used to be raunchier and because of the proximity to MARTA, the signs advertising VD (vs. the more politically correct terminology of “sexually-transmitted disease”) and drug testing made me assume that this was like storefront barely-legal, not so benign Medicaid-mill clinics I’ve seen in NYC and Los Angeles. I was thinking that it attracted crime. Glad to hear that this was a legitimate and appreciated clinic/lab.