Success Stories In Retail Recruitment



Texas Border City Finds Itself in the Retail Spotlight

Why would retailers want to operate in Edinburg, Texas, when the retail-rich city of McAllen is only minutes away? The answer is that Edinburg can prove its retail-worthiness, thanks to Buxton. Just a few years ago, Edinburg was struggling to get retailers to locate to the community of 49,000 people. But when Buxton performed a study that proved $1.5 billion in untapped retail demand within a 10-minute drive time, things began to change. “This information is really changing the type of retailer we have here,” says Ramiro Garza, Economic Development Director for the City of Edinburg.

Not long ago, Wal-Mart opened a second super center, while Lowe’s, Chili’s, Applebee’s and Denny’s have opened first sites in the city.

Since then, development has skyrocketed. A major regional shopping center—800,000 square feet in size—is about a break ground. This lifestyle center will be anchored by JC Penney and will include several other retailers that have joined the project, but that have not officially been announced. Another mixed-use development has already broken ground in the north part of Edinburg. This 700-acre development will include 1,300 homes and 150 acres of retail space.

Another retail site in development includes an Alamo Draft House (combination restaurant and movie theater), the 45,000-square-foot Lack’s Furniture Galleria and an additional 40,000 square feet of retail space.

All of this development has flipped Edinburg’s usual construction activity statistics. Typically, the city experiences about 65 percent residential construction and 35 percent commercial. Now, commercial has taken the lead with 65 percent of development going to mainly retail construction.

A growing residential base, along with increasing numbers of Mexican nationals who cross the border to shop in Texas, has helped put Edinburg in the retail spotlight. “We realized we had a lot of untapped potential,” Garza says. “The Buxton numbers have become a very effective tool for us to promote our city.”

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