Ceneredliup's blog

<p>If you drive the two-mile stretch of West Florissant Avenue that was the epicenter of nearly two weeks of protests and rioting in the aftermath of the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, the first thing you’ll notice is that there is a lot to buy. Traveling south from I-270 toward the city’s boundary at Lucas-Hunt Road, there are a dozen fast-food restaurants — Taco Bell, McDonald’s MCD, +0.57% Domino’s DPZ, -0.12% Arby’s — and a Target TGT, +0.15% Walgreens WGN, -0.27% Dollar General DG, +0.28% Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart WMT, +0.44% — just about every national retailer you can imagine.</p> <p>In that way, Ferguson’s main <a href="http://www.m-shoesbox.co.uk">m-shoesbox</a> isn’t much different than any other business corridor in the heartland. That is, except for familiar banking names. Ferguson isn’t entirely void of banks. There is a Great Southern Bank GSBC, -0.90% branch, a First National Bank and two credit unions. Bank of America Corp. BAC, -0.80% U.S. Bancorp USB, -0.50% and United Missouri Bank UMBF, -0.53% have automatic teller machines along the strip. But for branches, you’ll have to go to neighboring Florissant. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.25% Citigroup Inc. C, -0.52% and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, -0.43% don’t operate branches in the St. Louis area.</p> <p>They offer brokerage and mortgage services, but those offices are in affluent parts of the county and in the city of St. Louis. That said, there are ample financial services in Ferguson. ACE Cash Express operates two branches on the thoroughfare. There are at least six more payday lenders. QuickCash has a presence, as does Advance America. If a Ferguson resident needs a little more than their next paycheck can afford them, TitleMax Title Loans promises up to $10,000 in short order. Those storefronts are bigger and bolder than any bank you’ve ever seen. There are huge “cash” and “$$$” signs.</p></p>