Whole Foods is coming to West Augusta (Atlanta, Savannah: apartments, neighborhoods)

[The Magician]

I can't believe this has gone to 5 pages over a couple of stores in a mall. Really! In my opinion, Nort should have just come out and said that folks outside of Augusta that make comments that Augusta is nothing more than an armpit city, a pitstop heading to Atlanta, is over. Augusta is going to be known for more than the Masters. Augusta is on the radar for national retailers and there's no telling who else is going to come there. All of a sudden, Augusta and D&B or Augusta and Cheesecake Factory in the same sentence is no longer laughable. All of those things are possible. The Augusta mall is truly becoming a regional mall and WTP and VAR are becoming regional as well because they attracted regional stores. It is not highly unlikely that folks from Columbia, SC metro or Savannah metro will come to Augusta to shop. That does not mean that Augusta is better than those cities or any other city. I've stated many times that I go to Columbia for Riverbanks Zoo. I love the food in Savannah. Upstate South Carolina is beautiful as well. But this is the AUGUSTA forum, granted you guys were invited in because your city was mentioned, don't be offended. Nortonguy was correct, he called it. When the economy gets better a lot of the projects and stores that were gonna come before the collapse were gonna start back up. So, I guess no one should be surprised by these announcements and the ones to come in the future.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by The Magician

I can't believe this has gone to 5 pages over a couple of stores in a mall. Really! In my opinion, Nort should have just come out and said that folks outside of Augusta that make comments that Augusta is nothing more than an armpit city, a pitstop heading to Atlanta, is over. Augusta is going to be known for more than the Masters. Augusta is on the radar for national retailers and there's no telling who else is going to come there. All of a sudden, Augusta and D&B or Augusta and Cheesecake Factory in the same sentence is no longer laughable. All of those things are possible. The Augusta mall is truly becoming a regional mall and WTP and VAR are becoming regional as well because they attracted regional stores. It is not highly unlikely that folks from Columbia, SC metro or Savannah metro will come to Augusta to shop. That does not mean that Augusta is better than those cities or any other city. I've stated many times that I go to Columbia for Riverbanks Zoo. I love the food in Savannah. Upstate South Carolina is beautiful as well. But this is the AUGUSTA forum, granted you guys were invited in because your city was mentioned, don't be offended. Nortonguy was correct, he called it. When the economy gets better a lot of the projects and stores that were gonna come before the collapse were gonna start back up. So, I guess no one should be surprised by these announcements and the ones to come in the future.

Oh come now, Magician! You know for a fact that Augusta will NEVER be a "regional shopping draw" to people from Savananh. More than 12 million tourists came to Savannah last year, and many of them come here TO SHOP! Downtown Savannah's Broughton Street is quickly catching up to Charleston's King Street. There are DOZENS of unique retailers (and world-famous restaurants) in Savannah that attract people from around the globe. Augusta and Savannah are two different creatures, and to suggest that one is on a higher level than the other because of a MALL -- which Norton attempts to do ad nauseum -- is stupid.

[PJA]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Oh come now, Magician! You know for a fact that Augusta will NEVER be a "regional shopping draw" to people from Savananh. More than 12 million tourists came to Savannah last year, and many of them come here TO SHOP! Downtown Savannah's Broughton Street is quickly catching up to Charleston's King Street. There are DOZENS of unique retailers (and world-famous restaurants) in Savannah that attract people from around the globe. Augusta and Savannah are two different creatures, and to suggest that one is on a higher level than the other because of a MALL -- which Norton attempts to do ad nauseum -- is stupid.

I've had family members who live in Savannah come here to shop, and vice versa. In fact I've known people move from Savannah and vice versa.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by PJA

I've had family members who live in Savannah come here to shop, and vice versa. In fact I've known people move from Savannah and vice versa.

NOBODY has ever moved from Savannah to Augusta because of the "shopping." GET REAL!

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by PJA

And the you turn around and do the same thing you accuse of Nort of doing...proved my point exactly.

What the hell are you talking about?

[Columbuskidd92]

Oh,give me a break. Each second tire city have something different. There's no need to make Augusta look superior against its peers.

[whitmans77]

WOW! this thread has degenerated...well ill just say im glad to see Whole Foods coming to the area.im gonna go old school and say Im glad someone finally took the Jumbo Sports spot

[PJA]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

NOBODY has ever moved from Savannah to Augusta because of the "shopping." GET REAL!

nowhere in my post did i say people moved here for the shopping. I said people have come from savanah to shop here in augusta. Then i said people also move from savannah to augusta and vice versa but i didnt say it was because of the shopping, it could be many reasons. the point of my post in case it went over your head was that both cities have pros and cons and are pretty in the same tier.

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by The Magician

I can't believe this has gone to 5 pages over a couple of stores in a mall. Really! In my opinion, Nort should have just come out and said that folks outside of Augusta that make comments that Augusta is nothing more than an armpit city, a pitstop heading to Atlanta, is over. Augusta is going to be known for more than the Masters. Augusta is on the radar for national retailers and there's no telling who else is going to come there. All of a sudden, Augusta and D&B or Augusta and Cheesecake Factory in the same sentence is no longer laughable. All of those things are possible. The Augusta mall is truly becoming a regional mall and WTP and VAR are becoming regional as well because they attracted regional stores. It is not highly unlikely that folks from Columbia, SC metro or Savannah metro will come to Augusta to shop. That does not mean that Augusta is better than those cities or any other city. I've stated many times that I go to Columbia for Riverbanks Zoo. I love the food in Savannah. Upstate South Carolina is beautiful as well. But this is the AUGUSTA forum, granted you guys were invited in because your city was mentioned, don't be offended. Nortonguy was correct, he called it. When the economy gets better a lot of the projects and stores that were gonna come before the collapse were gonna start back up. So, I guess no one should be surprised by these announcements and the ones to come in the future.

The truth will set you free, and this is a excellent post... None of my comments ever mention that Augusta is better than any other city..

The people who accuse me of doing that are being defensive, because Augusta is now starting to attract of all these retailers... Within a eight month period the Cabela's, Bass Pro, upscale movie theater, Whole Foods, H&M, etc was announced...

These people attack my comments, but it's mainly due to their lack of knowledge. They don't know about the ongoing/future construction taking place in Augusta... People need to understand the majority of citizens living here in Augusta don't even have the amount of knowledge similar to me.

These same people can't even get over the 'Augusta is the fastest rising city in the southeast' moniker lol... They must think I just make this stuff up for no reason, and the city ranking 2nd in the nation for high tech job growth(over 80%) between 2006-2011 is a figment of my imagination..

Micheal Kors, Cabela's, H&M, etc coming here in 2013 is no surprise to people like me.. People can accuse me of whatever they want too, but they would quickly change their minds if they knew all of the FACTS... The NSA opened in 2012(4,000 employees), and the cyber command center is more than likely coming to Fort Gordon. The $172 million Starubucks plant, $1 billion Bridgestone expansion, $115 million Rockwood plant, $76 million Medical Commons, $15-$20 billion Plant Vogtle, etc are underway. The $100-$200 million Cancer Center begins construction this year on 15th street.

Augusta will soon have four large 'regional' shopping malls/centers...... The majority of cities our size are building up one large shopping area in 2013, and not two of them at the same time.

I don't think people would attack my comments if they knew the truth... How many posters in the Augusta forum do you see talking about the 25 acre shopping center on Jimmie Dyess, commercial developer near Kroger on 15th, and 44 acre development at Walton Way Extension/I-20? All of the posters on here are focusing on the VAR and WTP...

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

The truth will set you free, and this is a excellent post... These people attack my comments, but it's mainly due to their lack of knowledge. They don't know about the ongoing/future construction taking place in Augusta...

These same people can't get over the 'Augusta is the fastest rising city in the southeast' moniker lol... They must think I just make stuff up, and the city ranking 2nd in the nation for high tech job growth(over 80%) from 2006-2011 is a figment of imagination..

Micheal Kors, Cabela's, H&M, etc coming here in 2013 is no surprise to people like me.. People can accuse me of whatever they want, but they would change their minds if they realized the NSA opened in 2012(4,000 employees), Medical Commons is underway, $15-$20 billion Plant Vogtle is moving along, etc.

Augusta will soon have four large 'regional' shopping malls/centers......

Augusta has ONE mall Norton. ONE! Savannah has TWO, each with approximately 1 million square feet, and a third UNDER CONSTRUCTION! Savannah also has a downtown with high-end national brand retailers which Augusta DOES NOT have. As I've said before, for every unique store you brag about Augusta having, Savannah has another. So it's really a moot argument. But I digress ...

THERE IS NOTHING UNIQUE ABOUT AUGUSTA! You act as if Augusta's growth exists in a vacuum, and no other city in the Southeast is growing at a comparable pace. Which is absolutely, 100 percent false. During the last decade, the pace of growth in both Charleston and Savannah was greater than Augusta ...and thus far, it continues to be greater than Augusta's in THIS decade. So there's no telling what each city may look like in another 10 years.

Just look at what's happening in West Chatham and the city of Pooler. The level of growth and development is amazing!