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Greenville’s retail tsunami Retail experts weigh in on the trends just ahead SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF sjackson@communityjournals.com
The Upstate is exploding with new apartments and housing – which means a tsunami of retail will rush into downtown. After all, those new residents need somewhere to shop. Magnolia Park is well under way, a new Bass Pro Shop is in our future, and just last week we learned the Greenville News site downtown will become a bustling retail center. What else can we expect to see in the future? What stores do we need or would we like to see? What are the trends in retail right now? We asked local retail experts to weigh in. Jimmy Wright, Principal and Broker, NAI Earle Furman, and Tommy Molin, Senior Associate, CBRE provide discussion on the evolving retail market in the Upstate.
WHAT TOP FIVE RETAIL BRANDS DOES GREENVILLE AND THE UPSTATE NOT HAVE YET THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE? WHY WOULD THEY BE A GOOD FIT? WRIGHT: For apparel – Lululemon Athletica, Urban Outfitters, H&M and Saks Off Fifth. In the
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home furnishings space; Ikea, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware and The Container Store. Regarding food, I would like to see Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen and Biscuitville. Our area would benefit from any of these regional retails, and we have the market to support regional apparel retailers who offer something different and provide consumers with more choices. MOLIN: Field and Stream, West Elm, Gander Mountain, Sprouts Farmers Market, H&M. These are all retailers that cater to the strong demographics that the Upstate provides. The region is poised for long-term strong growth and is one of the most important areas for a retailer to consider when opening locations in South Carolina.
power centers and undeveloped land for new construction, which make them good candidates for retail growth. MOLIN: Magnolia is just one piece of the retail development puzzle in the Woodruff Road area. There is a significant amount of under-used real estate that was part of the land owned by Hollingsworth, including areas around CU-ICAR and the Verdae Development. Twenty years from now those areas are going to be very different and retail will be a significant component of the development that occurs.
WITH MAGNOLIA PARK FILLING IN, WHAT’S THE UPSTATE’S NEXT BIG HOT SPOT FOR RETAIL?
DO YOU SEE AREAS OF GREENVILLE BECOMING DISTINCTIVE – I.E. AUGUSTA ROAD MAYBE MORE HIGH-END RETAIL LIKE SOUTH PARK IN CHARLOTTE OR THE VILLAGE OF WEST GREENVILLE LIKE NODA? WHY AND HOW?
WRIGHT: Haywood Road and Laurens Road corridors have strong core retail, particularly Haywood Road around the mall, and both areas also have space that can be redeveloped for
WRIGHT: Greenville has pockets such as Augusta Road, downtown and West Greenville that show retail trends, but they’re not as distinctive as Charlotte’s submarkets, but that’s OK. Our market
October 31, 2014