Birmingham retail wish list (Gadsden, Anniston: coop, architectural, company)

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

I was thinking about this yesterday and have come to the conclusion that if IKEA comes to BHM in the future as it surely will to Nville as well, I am thinking a north side location would be the best. It would more efficiently serve Hville and all of north Alabama and north Mississippi. It is obvious that with Nville and BHM being the pop. centers with large student populations, Hville will not get a store until they go into the much smaller format that can be expected in about ten or fifteen years. I could see them in the triangle between I-22 and I-65. And yes, it would require bulldozers, big deal, Thompson is on it. lol

You may have noticed last week the announcement of the new I-65 interchange on this side of Cullman. The growth in Cullman is moving this way, the Midwest traffic to the coast is certainly on I-65 and Huntsville is just over an hour away; this is a great opportunity to serve a large mobile market. Once they crunch the numbers, and they will, they will see that if they are going to serve the smaller cities like Hville, they most effectively will have to do so through this kind of setup. It is the only way the company can keep growing. So the old two million rule is not going to last much longer. They can't be that static. In the above scenario, we are talking about three and a half million people within the acceptable less than an hour and a half drive that the company itself adheres to. This company will never go 'walmart', they won't be in every town that exists, so they have to use a hub system within the acceptable drive range they have established.

This is an interesting theory, because IKEA is pretty much a destination in and of itself, having dropped several hundred dollars there in August to outfit my kids' apartment at Auburn. I'm sure that the elected officials of Gardendale and Fultondale would pretty much sell their children to the Huns to land one of these.

If they need 2,000,000 people to support it, however, it would be a stretch. You'd have to throw Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Talleaega and Huntsville CSAs into the mix to make it work. All of those together total 2.2 million.

Maybe it we put a water theme park next to it. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

I was thinking about this yesterday and have come to the conclusion that if IKEA comes to BHM in the future as it surely will to Nville as well, I am thinking a north side location would be the best. It would more efficiently serve Hville and all of north Alabama and north Mississippi. It is obvious that with Nville and BHM being the pop. centers with large student populations, Hville will not get a store until they go into the much smaller format that can be expected in about ten or fifteen years. I could see them in the triangle between I-22 and I-65. And yes, it would require bulldozers, big deal, Thompson is on it. lol

You may have noticed last week the announcement of the new I-65 interchange on this side of Cullman. The growth in Cullman is moving this way, the Midwest traffic to the coast is certainly on I-65 and Huntsville is just over an hour away; this is a great opportunity to serve a large mobile market. Once they crunch the numbers, and they will, they will see that if they are going to serve the smaller cities like Hville, they most effectively will have to do so through this kind of setup. It is the only way the company can keep growing. So the old two million rule is not going to last much longer. They can't be that static. In the above scenario, we are talking about three and a half million people within the acceptable less than an hour and a half drive that the company itself adheres to. This company will never go 'walmart', they won't be in every town that exists, so they have to use a hub system within the acceptable drive range they have established.

That is an interesting hypothesis. The unknown strength of what the 22/65 interchange will bring us is tantalizing. I think the existing strength of the southern rim of suburbs is also very strong too. Could they also look to push a Birmingham store further away from the Atlanta and upcoming Nashville stores as well?

Having it to the south/southwest would still get those coastal drivers as well as making it an easy drive up from Tuscaloosa for those students too.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

If they need 2,000,000 people to support it, however, it would be a stretch. You'd have to throw Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Talleaega and Huntsville CSAs into the mix to make it work. All of those together total 2.2 million.

Maybe it we put a water theme park next to it. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Or just count Tuscaloosa, Anniston and Gadsden in with our current CSA, that should get us pretty close and it isn't a stretch in reality like trying to count Huntsville or Montgomery. We already have Cullman and Talladega in the CSA.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Tourian

Or just count Tuscaloosa, Anniston and Gadsden in with our current CSA, that should get us pretty close and it isn't a stretch in reality like trying to count Huntsville or Montgomery.

Well, I did include Tuscaloosa in my number. Omitted Gadsden. Anniston is kind of a push in my book. If you're in Anniston, it's equally easy to drive to Atlanta. If I were IKEA, I'd be leery of cannibalizing the customer base of an existing store, even if it's lil ole Anniston.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Well, I did include Tuscaloosa in my number. Omitted Gadsden. Anniston is kind of a push in my book. If you're in Anniston, it's equally easy to drive to Atlanta. If I were IKEA, I'd be leery of cannibalizing the customer base of an existing store, even if it's lil ole Anniston.

I meant to add, in my last message that Cullman and Talladega are already counted. I would be leery to add Anniston too, but if they get lassoed in to the CSA then they'd help make Birmingham's case for a store make more sense. They currently are not in Atlanta's CSA so I doubt IKEA used them as the deciding factor of building a store in Atlanta. It isn't like Anniston was the deciding factor that if not for them, Atlanta wouldn't have gotten their IKEA.

It is little ole Anniston after all. They'd help us far more then they could hurt Atlanta's store's retail numbers.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Tourian

I meant to add, in my last message that Cullman and Talladega are already counted. I would be leery to add Anniston too, but if they get lassoed in to the CSA then they'd help make Birmingham's case for a store make more sense. They currently are not in Atlanta's CSA so I doubt IKEA used them as the deciding factor of building a store in Atlanta. It isn't like Anniston was the deciding factor that if not for them, Atlanta wouldn't have gotten their IKEA.

It is little ole Anniston after all. They'd help us far more then they could hurt Atlanta's store's retail numbers.

That's logical to me. But I wouldn't count on IKEA pulling the trigger anytime soon.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

That's logical to me. But I wouldn't count on IKEA pulling the trigger anytime soon.

No, I'm not counting on it. But at least, according to their boss, in theory they could.

We really need to raise our hipster to widows with maids differential and cut down on scary taco trucks altogether to make it happen.

[raj kapoor]

The counties that are currently in the CSMA are Jefferson, Shelby, Walker, Blount, St. Clair, Chilton, Bibb, Cullman, Talladega, Coosa.

Bibb came in as a result of Mercedes. Talladega and Coosa came in as a result of Honda/Acura. Cullman came in due to some auto suppliers and general growth.

The Fed has predicted the inclusion of Tuscaloosa and Etowah in the next decade census due to the above. That rounds out at about 1,700,000. A healthy region for growth and advancement when based on population and economic diversity.

You may have noticed last week the announcement of the Promenade sized retail center at Springville exit of I-59. These types of developments, as they reach out bring more workers and commerce from the surrounding micro areas like Gadsden, so it is easier to see it coming in with much more dependency than Anniston.

I would point out that if one is motivated by one specific reason to drive to another community and they are at a midway point, eventually it is also considered how much more time and effort goes into crossing ATL to get to your destination as opposed to going in the other direction to a city with more manageable mobility. I have read that the BASS PRO here was intended to service west Georgia as a much quicker and painless alternative to the store in the northeast of ATL. But who knows, when retail guys make these comments.

As I said before IKEA is somewhat long range, and actually of no interest to me at all. ha

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

You may have noticed last week the announcement of the Promenade sized retail center at Springville exit of I-59. These types of developments, as they reach out bring more workers and commerce from the surrounding micro areas like Gadsden, so it is easier to see it coming in with much more dependency than Anniston.

No, I missed that one. Do you have a link?

I would point out that if one is motivated by one specific reason to drive to another community and they are at a midway point, eventually it is also considered how much more time and effort goes into crossing ATL to get to your destination as opposed to going in the other direction to a city with more manageable mobility. I have read that the BASS PRO here was intended to service west Georgia as a much quicker and painless alternative to the store in the northeast of ATL. But who knows, when retail guys make these comments.

Ain't that the truth. You can always add an extra couple of hours to navigate through ATL as opposed to the relative ease of getting to any point in our area with the existing interstate system that is still growing.

[raj kapoor]

Here is the article, Tourian.

About two hundred thousand sq. feet of retail and multi-family as now planned. This is important in that it is the first commercial development beyond Trussville in the I-59 corridor. Perhaps it will ease some of the congestion along US 11. NAH.

Harbert Realty, Four Star Holdings to build massive Odenville development - Birmingham Business Journal