Town’s prepared to recruit business

Consultant helps Horn Lake lure retail

A retail consultant hired by Horn Lake to help recruit businesses to the city says initial research has been completed, identifying trade areas and businesses that would be ripe for recruitment.

“We’ve painted a picture that we think lends itself to be very aggressive on the recruitment said,” Chuck Branch of Birmingham, Ala.-based Retail Strategies told aldermen during an update last week.

Branch said three members of his firm spent about six hours driving the Horn Lake area as well as neighboring market areas. In the process, the team identified zones that could be developed or redeveloped.

The research, Branch said, showed areas available for multiple types of development, from smaller businesses to possibly “big box” retailers along the Interstate 55 corridor. He said he believes the size of the market also suggests that a number of restaurants and retailers with locations east of I-55, or in Southaven, should have sec-

ond locations on the west side of the interstate, in Horn Lake.

Branch said the area studied shows a market size of about 190,000 people.

“We’ve talked to regional retailers who we believe should be in this market,” he said.

Also helping t he city’s cause is a planned Walmart supercenter. Walmart announced in December that it would build a supercenter on a 24-acre site at the corner of Goodman and Horn Lake roads in western Horn Lake. Walmart already operates supercenters in Southaven and Hernando.

The Walmart development is expected to add 300 to 500 jobs and spur surrounding development.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt (recruitment efforts) that you have a new Walmart going in,” Branch noted to aldermen.

Branch said his firm also has spoken to developers of Circle G Ranch, once owned by Elvis, and the developers want to come to Birmingham at some point to discuss a possible retail component to development plans there.

The city signed Retail Strategies to a three-year contract late last year, agreeing to pay the firm $80,000 — $ 40,000 the first year and $20,000 each the remaining two years — to help lure business to a city that is competing for economic dollars with neighboring Southaven and other DeSoto County cities.

“It all sounds good,” Alderman Tim Smith said after Branch’s first major update to the board, “but we’d like to see some actual dirt-turning.”

Branch said there are some opportunities for quick return by filling in existing locations, but he estimated any new major development would require 6-9 months before visible evidence was seen.