Costco and Walmart's Neighborhood Market Looking for Sites (Columbus, Savannah: price, foods)

[jlaud12]

Originally Posted by cnd33

Since when did Columbus have the 2nd largest metro...it doesn't. He was right, its 4th. He was referring to the way retailers look at cities. They NEVER look at city limits when determining city size.They look at metro size, so to retailers and developers, Columbus is the 4th largest. It would be in the order of Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon. I'm pretty sure that Savannah's trade area is a lot larger than Columbus', so that would be a factor as well. Think about it, if Columbus was the 2nd largest to retailers, it would have more than Augusta and Savannah, but that is obviously not the case. Yes, they are similar in some aspects, but in others, there is a big difference. It really doesn't matter what position you think they are in, retailers don't worry about city limits when locating, they are rather useless. They go for larger population centers, which would explain why Columbus trails them. They are considered larger markets, because they are.

He said city....so yes it is the 2nd largest. Larger than your precious Augusta.

[jlaud12]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

Nope, Columbus's city numbers are artificially inflated by consolidation. Columbus is definitely Georgia's fourth city for all intents and purposes (just as Miami is really Florida's largest city, not Jacksonville). Savannah has 50,000 more people in its metro area than Columbus, and that is significant. Also, Savannah has visitors and Columbus doesn't -- not in any real terms other than business travelers and military officials visiting Benning. This means that Columbus pretty much always follows Augusta and Savannah in landing its first national chain store, restaurant or retail club. Very few exceptions to that, and that's been the case since the 1990s. Augusta and Savannah are perceived as larger, more populous markets, and less military-dependent as well. Also significant.

Huh? Augusta doesn't even have Chipotle LOL. Less military dependent? Do Augusta or Savannah have any corporations remotely close to what Columbus has? NO.

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by jlaud12

He said city....so yes it is the 2nd largest. Larger than your precious Augusta.

No, he was referring to metro since what he quoted was about a metro area that retailers look at, and Columbus is 4th. Nothing you can say to change that. Does Columbus even have an Academy Sports? Costco? Whole Foods? No. That list can get longer, so please don't try to compete, that's not the point. Make sure you carefully read previous posts before you comment.

[PJA]

Originally Posted by jlaud12

He said city....so yes it is the 2nd largest. Larger than your precious Augusta.

Unfortunately that won't do a thing to attract Costco since they care about metro pop and not city pop which is what he and many others are trying to say.

[Columbus1984]

What's up with all these Augusta posters? Strange. Guess there isn't much going on in their town.

[columbusmetro89]

Originally Posted by cnd33

No, he was referring to metro since what he quoted was about a metro area that retailers look at, and Columbus is 4th. Nothing you can say to change that. Does Columbus even have an Academy Sports? Costco? Whole Foods? No. That list can get longer, so please don't try to compete, that's not the point. Make sure you carefully read previous posts before you comment.

auburn al has a academy sports and columbus is bigger than auburn in just the city population.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by columbusmetro89

auburn al has a academy sports and columbus is bigger than auburn in just the city population.

And it's in our CSA, which is a better representation of the area. Our CSA is about the same land wise as the Augusta metro.

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by columbusmetro89

auburn al has a academy sports and columbus is bigger than auburn in just the city population.

Auburn isn't in Columbus. I knew there was one there.

[columbusmetro89]

Originally Posted by cnd33

No, he was referring to metro since what he quoted was about a metro area that retailers look at, and Columbus is 4th. Nothing you can say to change that. Does Columbus even have an Academy Sports? Costco? Whole Foods? No. That list can get longer, so please don't try to compete, that's not the point. Make sure you carefully read previous posts before you comment.

Most people think all because columbus ga has a small town feel and not a urban feel it means the population is small too wrong.Columbus city population is bigger than the city feels. For an example just look at florida jacksonville fl is actually the most populated city in florida but Miami feels like it is because it's more urban with tall buildings but it's not the most populated in florida jacksonville fl is. But with columbus it may have a small town feel but the city isn't small at all when it comes to population. As of 2013 just the city of columbus is 202,824 but if you include phenix city and auburn opelika the columbus statistical area is 501,649.

[masonbauknight]

@ColMetro: You're conflating city population, metro statistical area, and combined statistical area. It's the middle figure -- MSA -- that determines when new chain stores, national "fast casual" restaurants, or retail outfits like Costco come to town. It was always that way, as back in the 1960s-70s, when TV networks determined when/if a city got a new local station affiliate. This means that at this time, Columbus (pop. 316,000 in the metro) will generally follow Augusta (pop. 580,000) or Savannah (366,000) in obtaining most "national amenities." Exceptions might be companies that are a nice fit for a military town like Columbus. Otherwise, Columbus is Georgia's fourth city in terms of new amenities.