Rating Retail in Southeastern Cities : Part 2

     Way back in the day (or 2 and a half months) I made a post on the ratings of retail in cities of the Southeast. Today this is my most popular post, and I would obviously make a sequel, and possibly make four parts to each region. So we create part 2 of the Southeast. This post covers the smaller cities of the area and their retail situation. And if you missed the methodology of my ratings, here you go:

- Number of dying/live shopping centers

- Hometown stores

- Future of retail

MEMPHIS, TN : B

Memphis is generally an underperformer in mostly everything. This carries over to the retail and business sector. Interesting, one mall has been demolished, Hickory Ridge is a little farther up the spectrum, then Southland, Oak Court, and finally Wolfchase. While odd, it's not preferred given that Hickory Ridge is soon to be demolished, leaving the fairly-large city with three malls plus Saddle Creek. One will be pretty much afterthought, so technically two malls. This sadly may not resolve itself, given that Memphis has pretty much underperformed on the growth part too. But, Fred's and AutoZone are based in Memphis and you can ship that with FedEx.

MONTGOMERY, AL : C

Montgomery has both vintage, but depressing retail. Montgomery Mall is the definition of dead. Normandale has no love or fun, and any redevelopment would be tough, given the neighborhood and decay. Eastdale is pretty average and small. And what rules king? Two lifestyle centers, by the names High Point Town Center, and the Shoppes at Eastchase. To add insult to injury, there isn't very much growth or any stores that a Montgomerian can proudly shop at. As in, hometown stores.

MACON, GA : C+

Macon is filled with mainly retail tragedy. Westgate was never exciting, and Burlington's, the dead mall auto fill-in anchor, has since. Macon Mall was once something of size and upscale, but was partially demolished a few years back and has had its power receded recently. Most retail excitement comes from the truly unexciting "power center" or a lifestyle coming by the name of the Shop-pes of River Crossing. This took the hype of Macon Mall, and is why the enclosed center is only a shell of itself. As for the rest, Macon also doesn't have a whole lot of growth or stores to be proud of.

GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG, SC : B

Like the tune of this list, GSP does well but doesn't. Haywood acts as the best mall in the state, and WestGate isn't far behind. But not all is well in the Three Cities. Greenville Mall, McAlister Square, and Hillcrest were badly conceived, and have since passed. Hillcrest has been and is still successful as a strip center, and McAlister Square is now an educational complex. Greenville Mall was demolished and replaced with - you guessed it - a power center. As for hometown headquarters, Denny's, sorta retail, is based in the area. As for the future, two malls is probably all the area needs, and expect them to prosper.

NASHVILLE, TN : B+

Nashville is a city of retail extremes. While Green Hills, Opry Mills, and CoolSprings Galleria are nice and all, you can't shake off Bellevue Center, Harding, Hickory Hollow, and 100 Oaks (in a way). Filling in the gaps are Rivergate and Stones River, which are pretty much mid-market "meh" malls. What really pulls down Nashville is that aside from restaurants, not much business-wise locates there. Hobby Lobby is the only notable. Nashville, like pretty much every other Southeastern city, has steady growth, and the retail will improve from it. Not bad, not great, but not much to be ashamed over.

Rating Retail in Southeastern Cities : Part 1

     To keep up my promise of delivering subjects in different ways, today we will rate southeastern US cities in retail.

Methodology of grading:

- Number of dying/live shopping centers

- Hometown stores

- Future of retail

ATLANTA, GEORGIA : B+

     Atlanta is given a B+ rating. Atlanta has plenty of top-tier malls in Lenox Square, Perimeter Mall, Mall of Georgia, and a few others but has been historically overmalled. This means the best of the bunch have a large difference between the worst. As for hometown stores, The Home Depot and Haverty's Furniture are the frontrunners, but the losses of Rich's and Davison's tick the grading downward. The future is unclear with the city's large growth occurring, but the best malls will most likely continue to thrive.

MIAMI, FLORIDA : A

     Miami is given an A rating. Most malls in Miami are in their prime and Miami has the third largest mall in America (Aventura Mall). What holds Miami from an A+ is the lack of hometown stores. It's probable that as the city continues to grow, the malls will continue to prosper.

COLUMBIA, SC : C-

     Columbia's harsh rating is because of it's lack in all 3 criteria. Columbiana Centre is the only long-term mall in the area, with everything else dying. Tapp's lasted waaaayy back, but is gone now. Columbia is supposed to see huge growth in the next decade, but will the malls come back? Highly unlikely.

CHARLOTTE, NC : B+

      Charlotte and Atlanta have very similar retail situations. Charlotte has solid malls in SouthPark and Northlake but has lived though Charlottetowne and Eastgate. Charlotte is the location for Belk and Cato Fashions. Like Atlanta, Charlotte has seen constant growth but it's unknown how that will affect the retail.

BIRMINGHAM, AL : D+

     Birmingham is no stranger to tough times with retail. Riverchase and Brookwood Village are the only survivors out of the other demolished malls and declining ones. Pizitz and Parisian once called Birmingham home, but have been purchased. Birmingham is mainly struggling as a city, so it won't be a surprise if what it keeps leaves.

Note: While TN, KY, parts of FL, MS, and LA are in the southeast, they will featured in a later post.