By Jessica Dillon
Before a major retailer chooses to open a new location, companies study detailed market data, customer patterns, and local requirements — metrics far more influential than community wish lists, according to Martinsville’s Building Official and Zoning Administrator Kris Bridges.
“Lots of people can come up with things they want, but the reality is that companies look for places to expand to, and there are very few that take input from consumers directly,” Bridges said.
The explanation came as he explained that Five Below is not locating in the former Joann’s Fabrics location, nor is any retailer currently confirmed for the former Liberty Fair Mall. But, he said, rumors often overshadow how complicated the corporate decision-making process actually is.
What companies analyze first
Bridges said national chains track customer locations long before entering a market. Something as simple as a cashier asking for a ZIP code is part of that.
“Companies like to know where their customers are coming from, and if they see a significant block of people from a certain area, they might look at that area and say maybe they need to put a store there,” he said.
Data on what people buy, and from where, also matters.
“The Marshalls (store) here actually draws from Greensboro and Danville, even though both places have Marshalls. Whatever it is, they’re doing it better than other” stores, he said.
Even grocery patterns can influence decisions. “The Kroger here draws from a wider area than they normally expect. That’s why they’ve talked for years about putting a Kroger back in Danville and never have. We actually have more grocery selection than they handle, even though they’re three times our size.”
Income levels and cost of living
Retailers don’t use one single income figure. They may review average, median or disposable income — each giving them different insight.
“Some want to know the average salary, some median income, and others the disposable income,” Bridges said. “I think our average is $64,000, our median is about $47,000, and our disposable is about $32,000. They all have different ways of calculating it.”
Cost of living can improve the region’s appeal.
“Our cost of living is about 68 percent of the national average, which means our money goes further. So even though income is lower, disposable income might be higher per capita,” he said.
Population rings and trade areas
Retailers often define markets by drive-time or radius, not city limits.
“Our population in the city of Martinsville is about 14,000, but including Henry County it’s closer to 40,000,” Bridges said. A 60-mile trade area widens it further, reaching Greensboro. Many companies treat Martinsville as part of Greensboro’s secondary ring.
Their primary ring covers a 30-mile radius including Walnut Cove, Lexington and Stokesdale, N.C., he said. Martinsville often falls into the next tier.
Influence, unpredictability and outliers
Sometimes, location decisions hinge on unusual factors.
“There was a high-ranking official within the Ruby Tuesday organization who liked to race at VIR,” Bridges said of Virginia International Raceway. “That’s why Ruby Tuesday went to Danville years ago.”
Trends can snowball, too.
“Early in my career there was an article in USA Today ranking Danville in the top eight places in the country to open a restaurant. Within four or five years, it had everything from Olive Garden to Outback to lots of major chains. And once you get something, it’s easier to get others because people want to be in on it,” he said.
Other decisions make little local sense, he said, noting Starbucks’ Ridgeway closure. “It doesn’t make sense locally, but it was part of a larger corporate decision. The local reality doesn’t always factor in.”
How companies vet local policies
Before companies ever speak to a local office, they’ve usually examined zoning rules, sign ordinances, and incentive programs.
“We can be ruled in or out just based on what our ordinances say,” Bridges said.
Some retailers contact his office directly. Others go through realtors or third-party agencies that evaluate codes before a site visit.
Once discussions move forward, plans come to his office confidentially.
“We talk to them and go through the project confidentially until a permit is issued, then it’s public information,” he said. “They want to be in charge of their own marketing.”
Leaks can derail projects.
“There have been articles written in the last fifteen years where someone found out early and reported it, and the company pulled out because someone jumped the gun on their announcement,” he said.
“If you put out information they’re not in control of, they’ll pick another place if two places are equally good,” he said.
Local role: helping projects move, not recruiting
Henry County Director of Planning, Zoning and Inspections Lee Clark said local staff don’t recruit businesses — they support them once they’ve already chosen the area.
“Our function is whenever a business that has already determined, you know, commercial business, once they’ve determined that they want to come to this area, we make it happen,” Clark said.
“We figure out what exactly needs to be done for them to locate here, whether it’s from a zoning standpoint, from a site plan standpoint, or from a building code standpoint,” Clark said. “We guide that developer or that development to make it work, to do our absolute best to make it work, and 99 times out of 100 we can make it work, but we don’t go out and recruit them.”
