STARKVILLE — Retail development in the city is experiencing something of a real estate squeeze, with space running out around major hotspots and new properties along Highway 182 not quite ready for tenants yet.
Jennifer Gregory, the president of downtown strategies for business firm Retail Strategies, told the board of aldermen during a work session Friday that while Starkville remains an attractive option for new business, a shortage of perfect spots has made it challenging to attract transplants.
The city contracts with Retail Strategies for retail development.
“You don’t have a lot of inventory for retail growth,” Gregory said. “Name a retailer we want here in Starkville, more than likely there is not a place for them to go. … They don’t exist to do us favors. They exist to make money. So they’re not going to open unless they find the perfect spot.”
Part of Starkville’s shortage of retail properties has to do with “co-locating,” Gregory said. National chains have identified other chains that share a customer base and will try to cluster together. A large retailer like Walmart will bring in a lot of companion businesses, but once space fills up in the immediate area, new businesses become more reluctant.
“Every small town that has a Hibbett, where is it located?” Gregory said. “Near the Walmart. Always, it’s in a little shadow shopping center by the Walmart. Many, many times you see a Chik-Fil-A and a Starbucks across the street from each other. And we’re running out a lot of those spaces. There isn’t a lot of room out by the Walmart.”
Starkville’s Hibbett Sports is in a shopping center with Kroger and Lowe’s.
Retail Strategies is trying to attract businesses to spots closer to the overpass at Highways 12 and 25, which is just west of Walmart, but tenants are reluctant to gamble money on being the first to open in a new area, especially when they can go to other similar cities that do have space near anchor businesses.
Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk suggested that spaces along Highway 182 might pick up the slack once a mile-stretch of the roadway is revitalized over the next two years, and Gregory agreed that once construction dies down, it could see more traction.
“We’ve spoken about the marathon-like aspect of real estate development and one of areas we’re hoping to see some redevelopment is along Highway 182,” she said. “We’ve started that and have years worth of construction yet to do. … I’d think that would be an area of interest to some.”
She did note that private studies have been done to see whether opening second locations along 182 would cannibalize business along Highway 12, and the people that did those studies opted not to follow through with the new location. She also said that the land along 182 tends to be unusually complicated legally, often in tax default or owned by multiple people or estates.
Better news for the city was found in larger economic trends. Leadership at larger businesses have turned to focus more on secondary and tertiary markets in recent years, Gregory said, which is exactly what cities like Starkville offer.
“That’s great news for a market like Starkville,” she said. “Major urban markets used to be where we saw a ton of growth, but take Aldi for example. They’d been saying for years they wanted to be in Starkville but weren’t sure we had enough demand. As soon as Wall Street said, ‘yeah let’s go into these smaller markets,’ and there was a piece of real estate for them at Triangle Crossing, that was a no brainer.”
Starkville was also simply known as good for business among people Gregory had spoken to.
“Starkville has certainly earned over the years a reputation of being business friendly,” she said. “Decades ago that may have been a challenge, but now we don’t hear any concerns about doing business in Starkville.”
Retail Strategies is looking to renew its contract with the city, Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau and Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority for the next three years at a base rate of $30,000, increasing by $5,000 annually and split between the three parties. Aldermen will consider the contract at the board’s Tuesday meeting.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
