How does the Valley support so much retail? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: appliances, neighborhood)

[Bruce Jackpot]

Originally Posted by observer53

You could ask this question about any large metro area anywhere in the country. Not a Phoenix area specific topic.

I disagree. There are a lot of factors at play. Property costs, taxes, low labor costs among others. I also notice that new businesses tend to get approved and they hit ground fast. Other places there tends to be more bureaucracy and restrictions.

These things make the Phoenix Metro attractive for retail. We are a haven for national chains and small businesses. The Dallas, TX Metro felt similar in this regard. I'd bet we rank high for number of restaurants per capita.

We have an insane amount of retail shopping options. From grocery stores, big box retailer, fast food etc. I'm surprised some don't recognize this.

[Potential_Landlord]

Originally Posted by Bruce Jackpot

It's amazing.... how much "stuff" there is. I wonder how these retailers keep their doors open with so much competition? Must be the low property cost/taxes and cheap labor? Even with all the tourists we seem over-saturated. No shortage of Walmarts, that's for sure.

The Valley= American consumer culture at its best...

I like all the choices-but it takes a lot of self-restraint not to blow your money on needless crap here.

Our local economy depends on snow-birds and retirees not to a small degree. So not all the money spent here is also earned here. Hence you get more retail.
You also got to see that there is a tendency for retail to move away from declining areas to new and prosperous ones. So not all new adds are actually net-adds. There are also a number of empty and never to reopen places because the areas are not supporting them any more.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Bruce Jackpot

I disagree. There are a lot of factors at play. Property costs, taxes, low labor costs among others. I also notice that new businesses tend to get approved and they hit ground fast. Other places there tends to be more bureaucracy and restrictions.

These things make the Phoenix Metro attractive for retail. We are a haven for national chains and small businesses. The Dallas, TX Metro felt similar in this regard.

I don't believe that opening most retail businesses in a strip mall or any other vacant commercial space is significantly different in many other cities in this country than it is here in the valley. Give us some specifics about these "other places" where there " tend to be more bureaucracy and restrictions". Certainly, the further west one goes in this country, there are many cities with businesses and retail all over And, this certainly is not a particular "haven for commercial chains and small businesses." Plenty of those, too, especially, again, the further west you go.

[Bruce Jackpot]

Originally Posted by observer53

I don't believe that opening most retail businesses in a strip mall or any other vacant commercial space is significantly different in many other cities in this country than it is here in the valley. Give us some specifics about these "other places" where there " tend to be more bureaucracy and restrictions". Certainly, the further west one goes in this country, there are many cities with businesses and retail all over And, this certainly is not a particular "haven for commercial chains and small businesses." Plenty of those, too, especially, again, the further west you go.

No statistics on hand but Arizona is considered a "good business climate" which typically means swift approval, low taxes, and lenient environmental regulations.

Are you guys ashamed that we have so much shopping and national chains here? . It doesn't bother me. It's just fascinating and I'm surprised people don't notice this.

[DetroitN8V]

Seems pretty equal to most other suburban areas. Every suburb I've been to has their share of Targets, Home Depots, Petcos. In what way are we different?

[WriterDude]

Originally Posted by Bungle

If you want to blow your money on needless crap get an Amazon Prime account and drink a few beers.

That is so true. :-)

Isn't it amazing that we joke about "renting" beer, but don't joke about renting cheap electronic junk. If I had a buck for every coffeemaker/vacuum cleaner/toaster I've had to replace because it mysteriously stopped working and it didn't make sense to fix...

[yukon]

I do my part to support the PHX retail market. As do a big chunk of the rest of the passengers on whatever SW flight I happen to be taking into PHX. ABQ is improving, but we still aren't an A market like PHX is. I know folks from the south part of the state head up to PHX to shop as well. As do folks I know in Denver, who come down regularly to shop in PHX. You guys have stuff we don't have in the cooler climate markets.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by Bruce Jackpot

No statistics on hand but Arizona is considered a "good business climate" which typically means swift approval, low taxes, and lenient environmental regulations.

Are you guys ashamed that we have so much shopping and national chains here? . It doesn't bother me. It's just fascinating and I'm surprised people don't notice this.

"Retail shame syndrome".....is there a med for that?

I think as several others have stated, this is a large metro area and the market supports what you see....until it doesn't anymore. Drive around Southern California and you'll see the same thing. And given I think some would consider CA to be more regulated/require more hoops for businesses to jump through than a state like AZ, retail still exists in mass in CA regardless so I think your point of "good business climate" doesn't really mean much in the end.

Supply and Demand 101 in action.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

I have to agree with Bruce Jackpot.

There are different trends here than in other areas of the country. Overall, there is a ton of retail here. One thing that pops up in my brain are the saturation of nail/beauty locations here. Go to Iowa, SD, Wisconsin, MN, etc. There are a fraction of nail salons. On the other hand, I don't see many coffee shops and pretty much only Starbucks. In the Midwest they are littered all over the place.

North Dakota has the most bars per capita in the United States. There’s one bar for every 1,620 North Dakotans. It beats out Montana and also puts North Dakota well above Minnesota, which ranks 17th. Wisconsin comes in third with 3,043 bars for the 5.7 million that live in the state. That translates to one bar for every 1,877 Wisconsinite. Parts of Utah have one bar every 70,000 people. Read More: Minnesota and Wisconsin Rank Among Highest in Country for Bars Per Capita | Minnesota and Wisconsin Rank Among Highest in Country for Bars Per Capita

Another trend I noticed is the saturation of grocery stores in the Phoenix metro area. There seems to be a grocery store one every 2-4 miles apart. There are 3 Fry's stores just in Surprise. 2 Walmart's (and 1 Neighborhood Market), 3 Safeway's, 1 Sam's, 2 Albertson's, 1 Bashes, 1 Sprouts, 1 Super Target, and a Trader Joe's. I'm sure I am forgetting a couple. That's 16 major grocery markets for 125,000 people.

I'm sure there is a website that lists such trends.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Bruce Jackpot

No statistics on hand but Arizona is considered a "good business climate" which typically means swift approval, low taxes, and lenient environmental regulations.

Are you guys ashamed that we have so much shopping and national chains here? . It doesn't bother me. It's just fascinating and I'm surprised people don't notice this.

Yes, we "notice" that there's a lot of shopping and chains here. It's fairly obvious It's also true of a lot of other large metro areas that attract a lot of tourists and have good weather. Maybe we just don't care to discuss how it is "supported" (plenty of it goes OUT of business too, so it's not all supported.)