Trying to figure out Huron... (Aberdeen, Watertown: real estate, hotels, wages)

[mdmagana]

I'm a commercial real estate investor / developer and I've been having one heck of a hard time figuring out Huron. In my line of work there is typically a lot of information to be had on the internet, but I keep coming up dry with Huron. I was hoping to get a little insight from locals or knowledgable people nearby.

I'm trying to figure out Huron's trade area. With a population of only 13,000 to 14,000, people must be coming from somewhere to support a WalMart, Runnings, and Kmart.... not to mention the car dealerships and hotel chains that are in town. When I was there, I surprised to see Nebraska license plates in the Runnings and WalMart parking lots, but I suspect that was a fluke. There must be shopping between Huron and Nebraska, right?

My question is basically this... What towns or areas does Huron draw from?

Thank you in advance for any help or insight you can offer.

[CoteauKid]

This may or may not be helpful, but if I lived halfway between Huron and another larger town in the area (i.e. Aberdeen, Watertown, Mitchell) I'd go to the other town.

[mdmagana]

Originally Posted by CoteauKid

This may or may not be helpful, but if I lived halfway between Huron and another larger town in the area (i.e. Aberdeen, Watertown, Mitchell) I'd go to the other town.

That actually is helpful. When I was in Mitchell, which seemed to have lots of restaurants and stores, I kind figured people in-between Mitchell and Huron usually went to Mitchell.

[writingfriend]

CoteauKid:

What time of year were you in Huron? We are inundated with out of staters during the hunting season, which starts (I may need some correction here) around late September, especially for pheasants. Other than that, Huron doesn't see many tourists. State Fair (over Labor Day) is another time that Huron is full of people. Check the population figures, children is the largest population group. We have many immigrants, many of which have very large families. With Huron, there is no shopping for many miles to the east or especially to the west. The other big shopping areas are Mitchell or Aberdeen or Brookings and many Huron people go there to shop especially for bigger stuff. Huron has quite a distinct split between the "haves" (who make decent money) and the "have nots" who cannot get out of the trenches because of very low wages and part time work and no benefits. Kmart here seems barely afloat. Runnings serves the farm/ranch people (and is friendly to dogs, they allow them in the store and give them treats at the checkout! yay!). Walmart is for the shoppers at the lower end of the spectrum. I think hotels thrive on hunting and state fair, and the car dealerships thrive on the farm/ranch people. The hotel downtown does get some "state meetings" type of business. Hope that is helpful!