Sunday, January 4, 2009
Local Businesses in Laveen?
YES, PLEASE! Now is the time for Laveen to go after local businesses, given the increasing retail vacancy rate and the ever-present demand for local options still lacking here. Anyone who has heard me rant about the state of retail in Laveen knows that I'm also working to do something about this -- even if it seems discouraging at times. As discussed on my other blog entry, "Time for Local Businesses Is Now," the LAHOA Retail Committee is trying to work with the Laveen/SoMo Chamber and local retail developers to encourage local business growth. This means we need to help people navigate the whole process of starting a new business, including their SBA loan applications and their lease for shop space. As I've always believed; with work, we will succeed (eventually). Please read my other blog and tell me what you think.
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4 comments:
By the way, it should be noted that I'm optimistic about our local retail developers' receptiveness toward working with local business operators. Their main concern is, justifiably, about creditworthiness.
The business options in a bedroom community are always going to be limited, this, combined with the current state of the economy puts the brakes on retail in Laveen. Infact, retail development in Laveen is best viewed as a barometer for the current state of the economy.
But what differentiates this bedroom community from others is threefold:
1. Future completion of Loop 202 changes everything. This will attract the big box national tenants and spur other shopping center growth in the future.
2. Despite the new tile rooftops here, Laveen still has some of the same small-town characteristics it always had. But it's more populous than ever before, which constitutes a great environment for a locally based business to capture pent up demand. There's still time to be the only game in town for many retail segments.
3. Laveen hardly even exists on most national retailers' maps, despite boasting a growing population of growing buying power. Other demographics are changing as well, such as an increased number of families with young children (I know of at least one kid on the way). Again, let them overlook this opportunity while the little guy steps in for now.
While I agree that Laveen is in a very typical economic situation right now, I think it has certain competitive advantages over other similar communities. Its ability to quickly rebound is one of them, which is why I think it's a great time for the modest investor to go after it. In the cliche terms of many stock investors, we are simply undervalued.
Its a fact that the completion of loop 202 will change the game in Laveen, and that Laveen has more history than other bedroom communities. These factors can only be an advantage. More than ever it's up to the little guys to get the ball rolling. Once they demonstrate some success, it will be noticed and acted on by the heavy hitters.
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