ULTA Beauty entering Statesboro market (Atlanta, Savannah: 2015, tenants, college)

[GaPlanner]

Statesboro Growth: 2014 & Beyond

ULTA enters the Statesboro market in a 10,000 sf building adjacent to Petco

[ellie]

Yippee?

[GaPlanner]

So far in Georgia, ULTA only has presence in Atlanta urban/suburban markets and a handful of second tier metropolitan areas and cities. Four metropolitans areas in Georgia (Dalton, Warner Robins, Rome, Hinesville) do not have a direct/indirect ULTA presence (Dalton's nearest is Chattanooga, Warner Robins' nearest is Macon). Those metros are also larger than Statesboro's Micropolitan Statistical Area. Statesboro is the only micro area in Georgia to attract ULTA.


From a retail standpoint, ULTA joins an array of brands only found in larger urban areas.

[WanderingImport]

Not too shabby.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by GaPlanner

So far in Georgia, ULTA only has presence in Atlanta urban/suburban markets and a handful of second tier metropolitan areas and cities. Four metropolitans areas in Georgia (Dalton, Warner Robins, Rome, Hinesville) do not have a direct/indirect ULTA presence (Dalton's nearest is Chattanooga, Warner Robins' nearest is Macon). Those metros are also larger than Statesboro's Micropolitan Statistical Area. Statesboro is the only micro area in Georgia to attract ULTA.


From a retail standpoint, ULTA joins an array of brands only found in larger urban areas.

Dalton, Warner Robins, Rome, and Hinesville do not have 20,000-plus college students -- half female! That, no doubt, is what ultimately attracted Ulta to Statesboro. Maybe more big-box retailers will follow?

[GaPlanner]

Good argument.... but Dalton and Warner Robins both have over 130,000 in their metro areas which I think offsets 10,000 female college students. Rome has about 95,000 and Hinesville... well its just not the retail epicenter. Even adding the 20,000 non-local college students to the Statesboro micro area population only brings the population to 95,000. The average Georgia Southern student (not sure about egc or otc) receives $8,000 in financial aid per year... plus part-time minimum wage is still under the state poverty levels. Of course a good chunk of the students come from affluent Atlanta communities and probably get an extra thousand or so from mom and dad each month, but those families would not qualify for Pell grant so their average annual aid would be significantly lower and more or less equalize with aid recipients with part time income. So unless, ULTA's site selection strategy includes a concentration of broke Millennials, I dont know that we can attribute Georgia Southern to everything good coming to the 'Boro.

Georgia Southern wouldnt explain why Talbots opened a store in Statesboro five years ago. Their target market is not college kids and even fewer cities in Georgia have a Talbots presence. An interview with company reps several years ago explained that they chose to locate a store in Statesboro after the company analyzed origins of catalog orders and uncovered an unusually large regular stream of orders from Statesboro addresses.

I am not aware of any big box retailers other than two groceries stores which have plans for development. I know the Publix development is said to be accompanying another one or two anchors with junior anchors but I have not seen any updates on that shopping center since the GDOT request to add a curb cut on Veterans Memorial Parkway about a year ago. I wonder what is stalling that project. Perhaps they are still working to secure additional tenants.

[ellie]

Originally Posted by GaPlanner

So far in Georgia, ULTA only has presence in Atlanta urban/suburban markets and a handful of second tier metropolitan areas and cities. Four metropolitans areas in Georgia (Dalton, Warner Robins, Rome, Hinesville) do not have a direct/indirect ULTA presence (Dalton's nearest is Chattanooga, Warner Robins' nearest is Macon). Those metros are also larger than Statesboro's Micropolitan Statistical Area. Statesboro is the only micro area in Georgia to attract ULTA.


From a retail standpoint, ULTA joins an array of brands only found in larger urban areas.

You mean the makeup store? They're everwhere. There's one in Savannah; there's one in Athens. Everywhere I go I see them. It's a makeup store.

It's not Ikea.

[Newsboy]

Target's major financial troubles (closing all stores in Canada) don't bode well for Statesboro getting a store anytime soon ...

[pink caddy]

Originally Posted by ellie

You mean the makeup store? They're everwhere. There's one in Savannah; there's one in Athens. Everywhere I go I see them. It's a makeup store.

It's not Ikea.

Yep, the reason you see them everywhere is they have 715 stores in 47 states! (Wiki). Tread is a non-event.

[GaPlanner]

ULTA is found in every suburb of Atlanta.

Outside of Atlanta, ULTA is only found in larger regional cities with one location in each.

Statesboro has attracted an ULTA - by far the smallest city outside of Atlanta to attract an ULTA.

This is a forum for cities located in Georgia near Savannah.

/rocket science.