In Sunday’s paper, there was a story about two new businesses coming to Covington.

A used-car dealership and a seafood market are about to open on U.S. Highway 278.

Although we are always glad to report about new businesses coming to the community, having these two businesses open up really isn’t cause for much excitement. Neither were some recent announcements about more fast food or chain-type eating establishments opening their doors here.

What Covington has right now are plenty of fast food places and used-car dealerships.

What it needs are retail businesses that local folks can patronize instead of driving to surrounding counties and Atlanta to spend their money.

With the arrival of pharmaceutical giant Baxter International and the many businesses that support what Baxter brings our community, it would be nice to see more effort put into attracting clothing stores and other types of retail businesses.

These businesses could influence the tax base and make it so that Newton County and Covington are more self-sustaining and less dependent on their neighbors for their retail base.