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Any one have knowledge or care to shed light on how these retail outlets study an area of town to determine not just whether or not to put a store somewhere but how nice the exterior facade should be? My thought would density and maybe household income or average housing prices in general. I ask this because I live out in Lexington off Barr Rd and I see things like the CVS built by the high school is a cinder block style building like you'd see if they put one in Swansea even though they are the closest drugs store to thousands of homes and including hundreds of lake homes with price points and family income levels through the roof. Then I head out to Garners Ferry and see that the same chain built a "taj ma Hall" in comparison. Cookout all I've the midlands either builds or takes over appropriate sized restaurant to meet demand but here they took an old undersized Taco Bell and you seem to have room for five people inside. K-Mart... Seriously??!? I'm from Lancaster and they just tore a K-mart down that was ten times nicer than the one in Lexington. Food Lion Shopping center just got remodeled a few years ago but looks cheap, nothing like what you see in other areas but demographics of this area don't fit what I'd think these companies would be using to make the decisions they do. Not complaining so much as curious as to what the retail/restaurant folks look for do determine these things.
I think it has to do with zoning, mostly. Zoning in unincorporated areas of Lexington County isn't very strict, which is why you see mansions and mobile homes next door to each other.
Well I do know that demographics is one of the first things they look at and this is population location, age, education, income, etc. They also look at cost of opening the doors which would be the building, local fees, etc. Distribution as in what it costs to get their product there plays a major role.
A town of 20K out in the middle of nowhere is not going to get a Costco.....LOL
Thank you wacamatt. That makes some sense to me.
John golf, you as well, but the question isn't about a Costco it's about current retailers putting low budget buildings compared to other areas even though the demographics might suggest a better facility. We are talking Lex High School area/Barr Rd/Lake Murray not Pelion. Heck, even White Knoll has higher quality facilities built by the same retailers. Specifically, CVS just built only a couple years ago at Wildcat wash location and put in a facility that looks like their low end design. Cookout is new and you can't fit ten people in their despite them constantly having lines around the building when all other Cookouts are either new builds or remodeled larger restaraunts. Food Lion and Both Bilos out here are jokes compared to every other part of metro Columbia despite being extremely busy stores And it seems to not make sense. This is NOT the middle of nowhere... This isn't Batesburgh we're talking about. Traffick out here is as bad as in Columbia my friend and neighborhoods are everywhere with a strong middle class to go with the upper middle in the area.
Lexington does feel pretty podunk to me and I've never understood it either. There is plenty of money there and strong demographics, but driving around it looks low-end and tacky.
...Food Lion and Both Bilos out here are jokes compared to every other part of metro Columbia despite being extremely busy stores And it seems to not make sense. This is NOT the middle of nowhere... This isn't Batesburg we're talking about...
I am surprised Bi-Lo and Food Lion stores remain open across Lexington County when they are being decimated by Publix and Walmart. Kroger's Marketplace stores may be another blow to weaker market participants.
I would like to revive the discussion concerning the WalMart Neighborhood Market that is being built at the intersection of Old Barnwell and Emanuel Church Roads. It seems the project is slow going at the moment, but I'm sure the pace will pick up. Also, I do hope this area is developed with restaurants and other businesses. As a local resident, it would be great to have a restaurant row along Emanuel Church Road. Hope this desire gets to readers who have an interest in developing. I'm just tired of having to travel to Lexington or West Columbia. Hope developers realize this area is "ripe."
Lexington does feel pretty podunk to me and I've never understood it either. There is plenty of money there and strong demographics, but driving around it looks low-end and tacky.
It's the weak zoning/design restrictions in the county (Both Richland and Lexington).
City of Columbia has the DDRC that, while they're often a pain in the ass to developers, helps to ensure that work in certain areas of the city meets certain standards.
Rural Lexington county has little to no restrictions, so what you get are things done as "economically" as possible by most (not all) developers.
I would like to revive the discussion concerning the WalMart Neighborhood Market that is being built at the intersection of Old Barnwell and Emanuel Church Roads. It seems the project is slow going at the moment, but I'm sure the pace will pick up. Also, I do hope this area is developed with restaurants and other businesses. As a local resident, it would be great to have a restaurant row along Emanuel Church Road. Hope this desire gets to readers who have an interest in developing. I'm just tired of having to travel to Lexington or West Columbia. Hope developers realize this area is "ripe."
There is a lot of potential in this particular area but I agree, it's tough because you have to drive at least 10 minutes or so to get to any sort of real shopping and dining areas. My girlfriend doesn't live too far from where the Wal-Mart is being built and I often complain about going over there due to it's relative remoteness. Usually though, when there's a Wal-Mart, other strip malls and such ensue. As much as I detest Wal-Marts, at least something will follow once its built.
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