The future of CPC.

[TheYoungProfessional]

Originally Posted by WASwift

And why does Belk avoid Columbus like it has cooties or something? Seriously. As best as I can tell, Belk has never had a presence in Columbus.

I have been wondering the same thing for years at this point. I mean we are literally pretty much the only market in the Deep South (large or small) without A Belk location.

[danmandr]

Originally Posted by TheYoungProfessional

I have been wondering the same thing for years at this point. I mean we are literally pretty much the only market in the Deep South (large or small) without A Belk location.

It hasn't been that Belk avoided us. They had no space to fill. You have to remember that Dillard's bought the old Parisian space back when it closed. The mall would have been the best spot to fill but their was no spot to fill there. When Dillard's finally did decide to let go of it, it obviously had to be a non compete tenant and At Home filled that void. The only other logical space would have been CPC but BJ's jumped on the old Sears building so quickly that Belk's didn't have a chance yet. Give it time and you will see it. Perhaps in Midland Commons.

[TheYoungProfessional]

Originally Posted by danmandr

It hasn't been that Belk avoided us. They had no space to fill. You have to remember that Dillard's bought the old Parisian space back when it closed. The mall would have been the best spot to fill but their was no spot to fill there. When Dillard's finally did decide to let go of it, it obviously had to be a non compete tenant and At Home filled that void. The only other logical space would have been CPC but BJ's jumped on the old Sears building so quickly that Belk's didn't have a chance yet. Give it time and you will see it. Perhaps in Midland Commons.

I completely agree that those factors are true as far as the Dillard’s and Sears locations, but I also believe that Belk would have been here if they were truly interested in entering the market. I am a Belk shopper so I enjoy stopping in relatively often as I travel around the South. In Georgia specifically (Metro Atlanta Locations, Macon, Albany, Warner Robins, Tifton, Lagrange, Americus, Thomaston, Thomasville, Bainbridge, Savannah, Augusta, Dublin, Valdosta, Waycross, Milledgeville, Statesboro to name most not all). Of course we will have to continue to wait and see what happens as we have been, but as it stands we are pretty much the only southern market large or small without one and I am not aware that they have expressed interest as I have been anticipating for years. To your point, we will see what happens with Midland Commons.

[DWColumbus]

Businesses also want to be in a great location, with high traffic count, good visibility and around other retail that will likely bring shoppers in their doors. There is only some much of those available locations. I'm hoping the new vacancies at CPC, along with Midland Commons can bring in some good retail that has been wanting to enter our market. I'm hoping some of the other retail expansions that developers seem to have forgotten about will hurry up and happen too! I think some businesses are willing to wait years if they have to to be in a good location.

On the other hand with Belk they did have a good chance when CPC was built so I wonder why they did not make a move then. They could locate to where TRU or HH Greg were. I'm not sure how big the sq footage of Belk is compared to those locations so it might take some remodeling and adding a 2nd floor.

[Fountain-of-youth]

Originally Posted by DWColumbus

Businesses also want to be in a great location, with high traffic count, good visibility and around other retail that will likely bring shoppers in their doors. There is only some much of those available locations. I'm hoping the new vacancies at CPC, along with Midland Commons can bring in some good retail that has been wanting to enter our market. I'm hoping some of the other retail expansions that developers seem to have forgotten about will hurry up and happen too! I think some businesses are willing to wait years if they have to to be in a good location.

On the other hand with Belk they did have a good chance when CPC was built so I wonder why they did not make a move then. They could locate to where TRU or HH Greg were. I'm not sure how big the sq footage of Belk is compared to those locations so it might take some remodeling and adding a 2nd floor.

I think it's common for a midsize city to not have every mid to low end store. For example Macon doesn't have a J C Penny's and Mobile doesn't have a Macy's.