Editorial: Overlooked and under-retailed

Call it the curse of the interstate highway. While cities like to tout easy access via interstate highway, like I-85 going through Salisbury, the ability to get to other cities quickly is a double-edged sword.

At least, that’s the characterization that comes to mind after a developer shared thoughts on a retail development going to Statesville. His words could just as easily have described Salisbury’s retail experience.

RealtyLink of Greenville, S.C., is going to build an $8 million shopping center in Statesville, near the interchange of I-77 and I-40, adjacent to Home Depot. Signing leases so far are Michael’s, PetSmart, Staples and T.J. Maxx.

According to the Charlotte Business Journal, RealtyLink’s director of construction described Statesville as being overlooked for retail development. As a result, shoppers drive to Huntersville, Hickory or Winston-Salem to find some national chains.

“Statesville has become a victim of its interstate access instead of a beneficiary,” said Shawn McClesky.

Salisbury is larger than Statesville — 33,662 people in the 2010 census, compared to Statesville’s 24,532. But both cities have median household incomes around $35,000, and both have growing population centers to the south that have grown at a greater rate, thanks to proximity to Charlotte.

Statesville has seen Mooresville’s population grow from 18,823 in 2000 to 32,711 in 2010 — a 73.8 percent jump. That far outpaces Statesville’s 5.2 percent growth. And Mooresville’s median income of $52,059 is nearly 50 percent higher than Statesville’s.

To the south of Salisbury sit the growing population centers of Kannapolis and Concord. Both are bigger than Salisbury, and Concord’s population grew 41.2 percent over the past decade to 79,006, with a median household income of $52,470 — nearly 50 percent higher than Salisbury’s.

Is there an echo in here?

As much as they might embrace the “shop local” credo, people in Statesville, Salisbury and countless other small cities find themselves taking to the highway (or Internet) to shop at national retail chains not found at home.

The only way that will change would be a sufficient rise in local household incomes to get national retailers’ attention, or a decision by those retailers to move into smaller markets. Retailers want locations with maximum ability to reach as many customers as possible with as much money in their pockets as possible.

The absence of some national chains probably opens opportunities for small, locally owned stores. But it’s hard to fill in for the likes of Home Depot, Target or Best Buy. With the big chain stores a quick highway trip away, that absence here may fuel more gasoline sales than anything else.