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Greensboro only has 1 mall which is pretty shocking for a 260,000 population city, plus one outdoor center. Winston Salem is the same way with basically 1 mall, though its the 2nd largest in North Carolina.
But compare it to a city like Richmond which actually has less population in the city than both these cities, yet has FOUR malls in the city limits alone, 4 good sized malls between 500,000 and 1.2 million square feet, plus 2 very large upscale outdoor malls. And then thats not counting the mall a few miles down the road near Petersburg as well.
I have also noticed that Richmond has more shopping venues and amenities than Greensboro even though it's a smaller city. When companies are looking to build stores, I think population is but one factor and I assume they also look at income and education levels. My guess is that the income levels may be higher in the Richmond area. Maybe people shop and spend more up there. There may also be research that shows that people are willing to drive farther from surrounding areas like Charlottesville or Fredericksburg to shop. I also assume Richmond has a more robust tourist industry that G'boro. Lastly, Richmond is on Interstate 95, which is a lot busier than I-40 and I-85.
I think Greensboro shopping is adequate. Oak Hollow Mall in High Point is virtually dead so that should show that the area can't support much more than what it has now.
...I assume they also look at income and education levels.
That's why you don't find stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Also, you won't find Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Rolls dealerships. Hanes Mall stores, strip shopping centers and Walmarts are very adequate for bucolic W-S.
Richmond is less than 90 minutes from the wealthy suburbs of DC, itself has a greater per capita personal income, and quite importantly, it has had a population of around 200k since the 1940s. Greensboro had nowhere near 200k people until the '90s, though the metro areas have been similarly sized for a couple of decades.
That's why you don't find stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Also, you won't find Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Rolls dealerships. Hanes Mall stores, strip shopping centers and Walmarts are very adequate for bucolic W-S.
Hey y'all! I wuz just sittin' here in my bucolic office talkin' to the cows, and they told me about this thing rich folk use called the internets where you can look up stuff to see if it's true! So I used it to look up the median incomes of Richmond and Winston-Salem on their city-data pages, and lordy be, guess what? It ain't even close--Richmond = $36,900, and Winston-Salem = $39,808! And then I read (just barely cuz we ain't too educated around here) that 18.6% of Richmond people have a bachelor's degree, vs. 19.3% for Winston-Salem. I ain't too good with math, but I think that means we win.
And I even found out that both the Aston Martin/Ferrari/Mazerati/Porsche and the Lamborghini dealerships in nearby Greensboro actually have web pages, so any moron who knows how to use a browser could easily discover that these products are sold here in the Triad, right alongside the tractors, mule wagons, and horses we normally use for transportation around here.
Check your numbers, arby...
From the Census Bureau, the Richmond MSA has a median household income of $46800. Our metro has $40913 as the median income.
The city of Richmond is quite different from metro Richmond, so perhaps you were looking at those numbers.
Check your numbers, arby...
From the Census Bureau, the Richmond MSA has a median household income of $46800. Our metro has $40913 as the median income.
The city of Richmond is quite different from metro Richmond, so perhaps you were looking at those numbers.
As I said in my post, I used the city-data numbers for the cities, not the metro areas.
Hey y'all! I wuz just sittin' here in my bucolic office talkin' to the cows, and they told me about this thing rich folk use called the internets where you can look up stuff to see if it's true! So I used it to look up the median incomes of Richmond and Winston-Salem on their city-data pages, and lordy be, guess what? It ain't even close--Richmond = $36,900, and Winston-Salem = $39,808! And then I read (just barely cuz we ain't too educated around here) that 18.6% of Richmond people have a bachelor's degree, vs. 19.3% for Winston-Salem. I ain't too good with math, but I think that means we win.
And I even found out that both the Aston Martin/Ferrari/Mazerati/Porsche and the Lamborghini dealerships in nearby Greensboro actually have web pages, so any moron who knows how to use a browser could easily discover that these products are sold here in the Triad, right alongside the tractors, mule wagons, and horses we normally use for transportation around here.
Heh, funny. That's odd that Wintson-Salem has a higher median income and higher education levels but still has less shopping the Richmond. I googled some more stats from CNN Money so we can do a side-by-side comparison:
I also included Greensboro even though no one in the forum is actually defending that town at this time. G'boro has an higher median income versus the two other cities. Note that this confirms arbyunc's assertion that Winston has a higher median income, although the income figures are higher for both cities in this analysis. However, the median home price in Richmond is higher. Of course, shopping isn't just for Richmond residents so I assume these stats don't calculate the entire metro areas. Richmond having more shopping defies the statistics. The only other obvious difference is that I-95 is busier than I 40/85 and that Richmond is only about 90 miles away two of the wealthiest counties in the country.
Hey y'all! I wuz just sittin' here in my bucolic office talkin' to the cows, and they told me about this thing rich folk use called the internets where you can look up stuff to see if it's true! So I used it to look up the median incomes of Richmond and Winston-Salem on their city-data pages, and lordy be, guess what? It ain't even close--Richmond = $36,900, and Winston-Salem = $39,808! And then I read (just barely cuz we ain't too educated around here) that 18.6% of Richmond people have a bachelor's degree, vs. 19.3% for Winston-Salem. I ain't too good with math, but I think that means we win.
And I even found out that both the Aston Martin/Ferrari/Mazerati/Porsche and the Lamborghini dealerships in nearby Greensboro actually have web pages, so any moron who knows how to use a browser could easily discover that these products are sold here in the Triad, right alongside the tractors, mule wagons, and horses we normally use for transportation around here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by olrac
Check your numbers, arby...
From the Census Bureau, the Richmond MSA has a median household income of $46800. Our metro has $40913 as the median income.
The city of Richmond is quite different from metro Richmond, so perhaps you were looking at those numbers.
It's not just the medium income of a city that determines whether developers build malls, or owners decide to open high-end stores, etc., it's the number of people with higher incomes that will shop in their stores. Medium size cities like W-S, G'Boro or Richmond are not known to be areas where there's much need for lots of shopping...or any high-end stores.
Face it - developers would go broke if they built more malls in W-S or G'Boro. High-end stores would not have enough business to keep their doors open - not enough high-income shoppers. Walmart works best for areas like that...
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G'boro has an higher median income versus the two other cities. Note that this confirms arbyunc's assertion that Winston has a higher median income, although the income figures are higher for both cities in this analysis. However, the median home price in Richmond is higher. Of course, shopping isn't just for Richmond residents so I assume these stats don't calculate the entire metro areas. Richmond having more shopping defies the statistics. The only other obvious difference is that I-95 is busier than I 40/85 and that Richmond is only about 90 miles away two of the wealthiest counties in the country.
