Expert calls local economy, workforce stable

Things are looking up on the national retail front.

The announcement of rue21 signing last month with Paris Towne Center is a good sign for the overall local retail market, according to Rickey Hayes of Retail Attractions, the firm contracted with Paris Economic Development Corp. to bring national retailers to Northeast Texas.

The retail economy is better now than it has been in the past two or three years," Hayes said. "Retailers who haven't done new stores at all are starting to venture back out into the market place. Construction costs are at the lowest in several years. It's a good time to build. Real estate markets in most places are a little bit subdued, so it's a good time to buy real estate, a good time to build. Engineers are scrounging for work. It's a good time overall to be doing new stores."

A successful retailer developer based in Owasso, Okla., Hayes has high expectations for Paris and the surrounding area.

"To see the response from the national retailers over our Paris data is very encouraging to me," he said.

Selling the area to national retailers is something personal for Hayes, who grew up and lived in Paris for 45 years before moving to Oklahoma.

"On a lot of cities you work in, you pull the data, but data is all we know. Paris is different. We have good, positive data on the market," he said. "But not only that, I've got 45 years of experience seeing this market. My dad owned a business here and we know the market is bigger than the population and we are being able to sell that."

Hayes works outside the traditional concentric ring model used by most national retailers to define the market area. He has designated a large area where residents consider Paris their main source for everything from food to clothing, major purchases and entertainment.

"Even though there's no population boom in Lamar County or Paris, the trade area as it exists from Southeast Oklahoma, west to Honey Grove, east almost to Texarkana and then south, that whole area has had the same phenomena. There's not a lot of decay there. Not a lot of hot growth spots, but the population base, the workforce is stable, and the economy has been stable in this area."

Hayes' research verifies there are a couple hundred thousand residents in the trade area he has defined.

"When the national guys start seeing the market, it's just a matter of time until they start investing in the community," he said. "Walmart has strong sales in the community, other retailers have strong sales, I think rue21 coming in is indicative of some of these retailers - the junior boxes - seeing Paris as a viable market."

Rue21 has found a sustainable market in Paris and its trade area, Hayes said. And with that addition, he is looking to find other retailers to complement the brand.

"Rue is what we like to call a market validator. They validate a regional or micropolitan market, and they are usually some of the first ones in. It's a good sign of things to come."

Hayes is encouraged with the response from local government as well, and cites the council's decision to make it a priority to hire a new city manager as a step in the right direction.

"We've had a great response, not only from the city council in terms of optimism and support, kind of a go-get'em type attitude," he said.

The election in May brought a few new councilors and a new mayor into the governmental makeup. Hayes has been developing a relationship to acquaint them with what national retailers look for in local governmental entities.

"The more quickly the local political infrastructure is in place and stabilized, and as the new councilors and new city manager begin to put down roots and share a vision, the better it is for what we do and what the PEDC does as well. We're very optimistic that we're on good ground there."