We're Immature 11.16.2006 | 1 Comment(s)

According to a post on the Southampton Yahoo Group, the Southtown Business Boosters, a group trying to generate interest in Southtown Center (basically doing what commercial real estate brokers aren't doing), have been unsuccessful in their bid to lure Trader Joe's into the mostly vacant Southtown Center.

Trader Joe's states they are waiting for the St. Louis market to "mature." The poster said that he doesn't believe the Chesterfield store is doing all that well and that Trader Joe's has no plans for expansion in the St. Louis market until late 2008 at the earliest.

I applaud the Southtown Business Boosters' efforts. I have to wonder how much effort the brokers in charge of leasing the vacant spaces are putting into the Southtown Center project if a citizens group has to get involved to generate interest in some retail space. Hopefully, the SBB will bring a tenant to the center and they'll get a cut of the broker's commission. All's fair...

By  Anonymous, at 10:06 PM

I have a couple of friends who work for Trader Joe's. They have repeatedly told me the same thing. The sales in the other stores don't nearly match those in the Brentwood store.

To be honest, while I would love to see them come into Southtown, I doubt that it will happen. My realtor has focused on the South Hampton area for a while. He is seeing a loss of the younger or first time homebuyer to the downtown lofts. If that is the case, between loft development and the downtown work crowd, I think the next TJ store will end up downtown.