Item B - Big Box Stores Control - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ATTACHMENT A BACKGROUND ON "BIG BOX" RETAILING Background This issue is scheduled for a City Council work session in response to a request by 5 members of the City Council. The study session will be held on May 24, 2004. Overview Eugene, a city of approximately 140,000, contains a mix of retail uses, represented by regional, neighborhood, and central core commercial development. Tenant mix distribution is typical of this size community. Regional retail development includes Valley River Center and Oakway Mall. The scale of these developments attracts a large percentage of sales from a customer base beyond the City limits (Springfield and Lane County). Tenant sizes within these developments range from 1,000 square feet up to 100,000-200,000 square feet for the major anchor stores. Neighborhood commercial developments are fairly evenly dispersed within Eugene, consistent with demand for daily or weekly consumer needs. These neighborhood retail developments are typically 10 to 20 acres in size and provide food and service needs to nearby residents. A typical anchor for these centers is a market of 30,000-70,000 square feet and small adjacent tenant spaces of 800-15,000 square feet. The national trend in these centers is for the anchor (in this case, the market) to expand into additional retail services (pharmacy, banking, florists, postage service, and fast food) resulting in traditional food markets of up to 75,000-90,000 square feet. Market operators benefit from expansion into these "non food" services as product mark-up is much higher than the small margin for food sale. Additionally, the city contains several of what is often referred to as "Big Box" retailers (Costco, Target, Fred Meyer' s, and Wal-Mart). The term as presently used, merits clarification given the current national dialogue about Wal-Mart's expansion into retail food sale. The term "big box" is often used to generally describe the large retail service provider, but its general application does not provide the needed insight into the understanding of the consequences of a size limitation imposed by code. Acknowledging that industry definitions can be numerous, for purposes of this discussion, five general definitions are described. 1. Department Stores - These are the traditional mall anchors and range from 100,000-160,000 square feet. Historically, these retailers included clothing and appliances (Sears, J.C. Penney' s, and Montgomery Wards). Currently, these stores are focused at fashion clothing (Meier & Frank, Dillards, Macy's, and Bon Marche'). 2. Specialty Stores - Often referred to as "category-busters", these stores are retailers who respond to the specialized needs of the consumer (Office-Max, Circuit City, Petsmart, Borders, and Bed, Bath & Beyond). Where, twenty years ago, consumer