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Not trying to be snarky. Just a sincere question. No shortage of retail here. No Saks or Neiman Marcus, but we have local upscale places like Oak Hall and James Davis. Lots of little boutiques too. If one needed something particularly unusual, there's always the internet. I don't get it. If you need something to complain about, there's always local politics and the weather in July.
I don't complain about it (I think the shopping is fine here), but there are some stores I definitely miss and look forward to shopping at whenever I go up north, which is where I'm from. Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom, and H&M are a few.
For that matter, I think Memphis has some great stores that a lot of other cities don't have. Like the Williams Sonoma/Pottery Barn outlets (always on my mom's list of must-dos when she comes for a visit), or Bargain Hunt. My biggest retail issue with Memphis is the lack of major grocery store variety. Drives me crazy! What I'd give for a Publix... and that's not even a store I grew up with!
Oak Hall and James Davis are TINY compared to places like Nordstrom, and they are very expensive. Nordstrom will have upscale house brand names at very reasonable prices. Also, we have very few stores with fresh produce, local produce, and healthy foods. Have you ever walked into a Trader Joe's? There's nothing close in Memphis. How about a Wegmans? The best grocery store on earth-- bakery food means food in actually baked right there!! "Fresh" Market is such a scam, a "bakery" that has cookies with a list of 25 ingredients is NOT a bakery, food comes in frozen and they warm it up. Same with the deli, that kind of food is not made on-site.
Because of a limited number of stores in Memphis, there is less competition, and higher prices as well. No outlet stores anywhere around here either, which drives prices much higher.
To me, the most important thing missing is good, healthy food at reasonable prices.
What kills me is when demographics are the reason why, or why not these stores come here. I know that is huge and important, but cannot be everything...
I know plenty people who go out of town to Atl, Stl,Texas, and etc and shop at stores that are not here frequently. Im sure if some of those stores was here, they'll have enough business to sustain. That can be said about the grocery stores, and clothing. Put a Trader Joes or Publix in Memphis and I bet you wouldnt find a parking spot.
As far as clothing goes, idk what people be looking for. I believe if you put a Nordstorm here it too can sustain. It was an article a few years ago talking about one coming here. You Better Shop Around - Memphis Daily News
Also in the near future our region will have some more options coming. Late this year or early next a new "Upscale" Outlet mall is being built in Southaven, probably have some stores not in our region. The developers not giving names Outlet mall coming to Southaven at Interstate 55, Church Road » The Commercial Appeal
and I guarentee with 385 near completion, a new Mall will be built near within 5 years.
I've lived here my whole life (except college) so it's very possible that I'm missing something. I'm sure I'm part of the disconnect too, but I think other people are just being brand loyal to stores and cities also. My favorite mall store is Banana Republic, and I'd probably be pretty crabby about any town without one just because of my loyalty. Kroger's monopoly is disconcerting, but I'm pretty satisfied with their stores. I mostly frequent the one on Sanderlin and the one at Kirby and Poplar. Both are recently renovated, spotless, and full of employees who are very friendly to me. I used to take my grandmother to the Kirby/Poplar one every week, and all the employees knew us and always made a point to say hello and to be patient with Grandma, who could be very impatient herself. They were sincerely comforting when they heard my grandmother passed a few years ago. My only beef with them is that their produce is always underripe, but I understand that for a big grocery, there's too much risk of spoilage to have perfectly ripe produce out. It's not super pretty, but I also like Easy Way for the fresh local produce. And I'm not a big clothes shopper, so I am probably pretty clueless in this department, but I thought people looking for upscale clothes wanted little boutiques not massive stores. For nice enough, but not super fancy stuff, Macy's seems fine. Nothing there is going to be a "designer original" but who wears that kind of stuff in real life anyway? Shopping seems to be the least of Memphis's problems. Except for Midtown/Downtown, which desperately needs a decent supermarket and a Target. But I read in the Commercial Appeal that Kroger purchased the apt building next to the Union location, so expansion should be coming soon. How a home depot came before a good grocery is totally beyond me.
I've lived here my whole life (except college) so it's very possible that I'm missing something. I'm sure I'm part of the disconnect too, but I think other people are just being brand loyal to stores and cities also. My favorite mall store is Banana Republic, and I'd probably be pretty crabby about any town without one just because of my loyalty. Kroger's monopoly is disconcerting, but I'm pretty satisfied with their stores. I mostly frequent the one on Sanderlin and the one at Kirby and Poplar. Both are recently renovated, spotless, and full of employees who are very friendly to me. I used to take my grandmother to the Kirby/Poplar one every week, and all the employees knew us and always made a point to say hello and to be patient with Grandma, who could be very impatient herself. They were sincerely comforting when they heard my grandmother passed a few years ago. My only beef with them is that their produce is always underripe, but I understand that for a big grocery, there's too much risk of spoilage to have perfectly ripe produce out. It's not super pretty, but I also like Easy Way for the fresh local produce. And I'm not a big clothes shopper, so I am probably pretty clueless in this department, but I thought people looking for upscale clothes wanted little boutiques not massive stores. For nice enough, but not super fancy stuff, Macy's seems fine. Nothing there is going to be a "designer original" but who wears that kind of stuff in real life anyway? Shopping seems to be the least of Memphis's problems. Except for Midtown/Downtown, which desperately needs a decent supermarket and a Target. But I read in the Commercial Appeal that Kroger purchased the apt building next to the Union location, so expansion should be coming soon. How a home depot came before a good grocery is totally beyond me.
Yes Kroger did buy the land next to it. And without going into too much detail about what I somewhat went into last night, they are gonna give the Cleveland Kroger up. Supposedly, and I do say supposedly, there will be another brand or company to come in with major renovation to the Kroger, or should we say, possibly former Kroger. I am not comfortable saying this 100% yet. I also asked about the Target. Everything is a go. The I's are dotted. But, apparently now they are waiting for funding from Nashville for it to go ahead. Now the only question is if the people from middle and east Tennessee are willing to fund it. Seeing how past funding, or the lack thereof, has gone towards Memphis I could see it falling through. But grit and grind right? I graduated from the University of Tennessee and live in Memphis. I can say the funding to this city and the University of Memphis has been horrible in the past. But from what I understand a lot of the good ole boys are gone and things may have changed quite a bit. We'll see.
I love Memphis and am exploring a job opportunity that would take me back there. There are many reasons why I would love to live in Memphis again, but shopping isn't one of them.
Adding a Target to Midtown won't make Memphis a more attractive shopping destination, although I would love to see it. A city full of Krogers isn't very enticing, either. I seriously doubt Kroger would let a competitor take over its Poplar/Cleveland location, but I guess stranger things have happened. I'm also disappointed that Kroger is tearing down an iconic apartment tower to expand its Union Ave store. They should see Harris Teeter's urban grocery stores in Nashville and Charlotte, or what Publix has in Atlanta and is planning for midtown Nashville. Publix and Walmart are also building multi-level urban stores in Knoxville adjacent to U.T.--without state funding, I might add. I don't know why Kroger can't build a more appropriate urban store in Memphis, nor do I understand why Target needs state funding to build a store in Crosstown.
It's depressing that Memphis has nothing better than Kroger or Fresh Market. Anyone who thinks Kroger is good enough has clearly never been in a Wegman's, Publix, or certainly Trader Joe's.
While I do some online clothes shopping, there's nothing like actually walking through a store, trying on clothes, feeling material, even smelling the fabric. And sometimes it's nice to have a sales clerk help, especially when buying shoes. And sometimes it's nice to go to an upscale department store just for the heck of it. Nashville has Nordstrom, and Birmingham (yes, Alabama) has Saks Fifth Avenue. Those are stores that would bring in people from Jackson and Tupelo, even Little Rock, if Memphis had one. Another Target or a "fancy" Kroger won't.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
Well to me personally Memphis shopping is sufficient...but I can see Why someone May complain....Memphis doesnt have a cheesecake factory like a lot of other cities..Memphis jus got a Five Guys and Urban Outfitters..but theres not any ultra posh stores like Saks..Burberry Gucci..or Prada like at Lenox Square in Atlanta..or in New York
Memphis doesnt have any 3 or 4 story malls with ice skating rinks and the whole shabang like the Mall of Georgia or The Galleria in Houston
..or the Mall of America in Minneapolis
And finally Memphis lacks one of the giant single story "Mills" mall like Opry Mills in Nashville, Grapevine Mills in Dallas, Discover Mills.in Atlanta or Sawgrass Millls Near Miami
So when people come from those places to Memphis and see that Memphis lacks these things they tend to say that Memphis shopping is lacking...though I do hear that Southaven jus south of Memphis is working on an ultra High end new mall
Maybe it's because I come from a town of 60,000, but shopping here seems decent. H&M would be a welcome addition. Macys seems to work pretty well for a lot of other things. I drive through Nashville a few times a year and always stop at Calvin Klein, so one of those would be nice. In short, there are a lot of things here, but a couple stores that I miss personally. Hard to tell how it measures up, in the overall opinion.
Now as far as grocery stores, Memphis sucks terribly. I can't even find good, organic berries at ANY Kroger... including the poshest one I could find in Germantown. They don't stock any berries, or just one type if you're lucky that day. I agree that Fresh Market is a scam, with the exception of its produce. (I worked at TFM previously.) However, the Fresh Market that I have been to in East Memphis was really gross. "Like, ew, never would I eat any of that" kind of gross.
Maybe I am really spoiled - I came of age picking up my meats, cheeses, and produce at Earth Fare, which is quite possibly the best grocery store in the U.S. Until they expand west to Nashville and Memphis, don't see how I can find what I want anywhere else. I've never been hugely impressed with Trader joe's. Only been in Publix a couple times in Florida, so I can't remember what those are like.
I'm also concerned about the new building in Midtown. The last thing we need is another Home Depot style development - with the store about a fifth a mile off the roadway. Midtown is SO ready for the urban styles of development we have seen happen in other cities. Maybe then I could truly walk or bike from my house in Evergreen?
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