Why are so many businesses closing in the tri-cities?

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Rangerred

There is starting to be an economic separation between Bristol/Kingsport and Johnson City. Eastman is undertaking a large expansion of their headquarters in Kingsport but other than that, things are not looking great. Bristol is relying heavily on The Pinnacle retail development but retail as an economic development tool rarely pans out. It has a very low "bang for the buck". Plus, I still think the MSHA/Wellmont merger will hurt Kingsport and Bristol in the long run.

Johnson City hasn't had any blockbuster economic development deals lately but I feel the area is on a steady incline. There continues to be a large amount of investment in downtown, both public and private, that I feel will result in a large-scale investment downtown (i.e. hotel, corporate relocation) in the future. Not to mention the quality of life improvements that are important when recruiting business.

ETSU is also finally asserting itself as an economic driver for Johnson City. The soon to be built performing arts center, the move to a more residential university, and the major role the university will play in the new MSHA/Wellmont organization make the future look very bright for the area.

Times are good in Kingsport if you are an Eastman employee. Keyword there - employee. I know when I went to my orientation for all onsite personnel probably two-thirds of the people there were contractors. I was a contractor and feel I was way underpaid. It is what it is, but not everyone who works at Eastman works for Eastman and is going well.

Also agreed Bristol is relying too much on retail, but they seem to be doing better than Kingsport overall.

Johnson City seems to be consistently improving in small doses now.

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[quote=jchometeam;29700713]CiCi's was crappy pizza in an area with too many pizza places. Burger King is being replaced by a new fast food chain. Atlanta Bread built and then a better version of the same thing opened right across State of Franklin. I see that as healthy free market myself.

/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more. When the economy gets tight for the middle class such as ours has it takes a toll on businesses that cater to that segment. The strong survive, the not-so-strong don't make it. The contradiction to this is the Kingsport area has been killing sale tax collections until March when it has the highest percentage year-over-year decline in the state. Still, I think the core issue is we're evolving into a two-tiered economy. The folks catering to the lower market (Aldi's, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Dollar General Market etc) seem to be doing well. The same goes for those catering to the higher end of the economy. The crunch is in the middle.

[Serious Conversation]

[quote=Page2;39413412]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

CiCi's was crappy pizza in an area with too many pizza places. Burger King is being replaced by a new fast food chain. Atlanta Bread built and then a better version of the same thing opened right across State of Franklin. I see that as healthy free market myself.


Couldn't agree more. When the economy gets tight for the middle class such as ours has it takes a toll on businesses that cater to that segment. The strong survive, the not-so-strong don't make it. The contradiction to this is the Kingsport area has been killing sale tax collections until March when it has the highest percentage year-over-year decline in the state. Still, I think the core issue is we're evolving into a two-tiered economy. The folks catering to the lower market (Aldi's, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Dollar General Market etc) seem to be doing well. The same goes for those catering to the higher end of the economy. The crunch is in the middle.

This problem is going on everywhere, but I think the problem is particularly acute in the Tri-Cities. Most of the people I know back home are really struggling financially, but maybe 10%-20% of the people in the Tri-Cities are doing quite well.