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Retail experts weigh in on state of local development

Retail experts weigh in on state of local development Image Credit: Patrick Camp / The Cullman Times

Retail experts weigh in on state of local development

A panel of local and regional industry insiders said the future of the retail landscape in Cullman County appears to be strong with plenty of opportunity for continued growth during a community luncheon hosted by the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, Sept. 20.

Susan Eller, Retail and Workforce Development Manager with the Cullman Economic Development Agency, Jason Grimmett, Vice President of Drinkard Development, and Andy Dennis, Senior Vice President of The Shopping Center Group of Alabama, hoped to give local Chamber members a peek behind the veil of what goes into selecting — and attracting — new retail developments for Cullman County.

Cullman has increasingly become a target for prospective retail developers in recent years as more nationally recognized stores and restaurants have been opening stores in the area. This has been particularly true for the city of Cullman, who most recently signed off on site plans submitted for a new unnamed, 55,000 square-foot sporting goods store on King Edward Street.

Dennis said this has been partly due to Cullman’s location and the natural tendencies of large retailers to expand outward from larger metro locations such as Huntsville and Birmingham but Grimmett said there has also been significant amount of advocacy for the area and strategic planning that has also gone into his discussions with developers.

Grimmett is responsible for coordinating the leasing, site selection, financing and the development of Drinkard Development’s shopping centers. He said it was important to look “beyond the numbers” and demographics when discussing the area as a potential location.

“There was a time when TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Publix or really any of the retail that we have were even on our radar. But once you’re able to know your market and know your community you can convince them that people drive from other counties to come to Cullman to shop. That’s when you start seeing these national retailers show up here,” Grimmett said.

According to Dennis, one of the most widely used methods by the majority of companies when searching for new locations is to look at the revenues from their closest competitors who already exist in the area. Eller said due to previous successes from location franchises actually recruiting new retailers has almost become a thing of the past.

“These are types of businesses that we don’t really have to recruit. They know where they want to be and they want to be close to successful people. There’s not a lot of secrets in this business and its easy to find out what somebody’s sales are so they know when somebody has been successful,” Eller said.

While there may not be many secrets once a business has opened, Grimmett said the necessity for confidentiality is “vital to the deal,” up until the moment it has actually been finalized. Dennis said the average time from conception to realization averages between 18 months and four years. During this time he and Grimmett said they had both seen more than a few deals fall apart for reasons ranging from shifts in market trends to increased construction costs.

“We do sign a lot of nondisclosure agreements. From the developer standpoint, you don’t want anyone to come in and take a deal from you. From the retailer’s standpoint, they change their mind often. They’ll get to the finish line and change their mind sometime and that’s bad press for them,” Grimmett said. “Everyone will know soon enough when it happens but confidentiality is key.”

Dennis at one point shied away from answering a question as to what specific developments local shoppers could expect to be announced in the near future, but said as the retail and food service sectors, particularly larger nationally recognized brands, continue to experience upward trends, he didn’t anticipate local growth to stall any time soon.

“There is a lot of activity especially with established brands. You kind of have two stories, some retailers are expanding rapidly and there are others who are filing bankruptcy. So, it’s a little bit of both but demand from established brands is very strong,” Dennis said.

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