Tags from 29 counties at new Sam’s Club, 40% Fayette, 39% Coweta
Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 10:48am
Submitted by Ben Nelms
Submitted by Ben Nelms
The Sam’s Club store in the new Fischer Crossings commercial center on Ga. Highway 34 in east Coweta County near Peachtree City opened last Thursday to much fanfare and many shoppers. But where did all those shoppers come from?
A survey of vehicles on Thursday morning and again Saturday afternoon showed the crowded parking lot populated with shoppers from 29 Georgia counties. Of those, 40 percent of the vehicles were from Fayette County and 39 percent were from Coweta County, according to an actual count of auto license tags by a reporter for The Citizen.
At 136,000 square feet and as the company’s only store in southwest metro Atlanta, the large Sam’s Club was expected to be a draw from residents of both Coweta and Fayette and nearby counties. And it was. A walk through in the parking lot at 10 a.m. Thursday, less than two hours after the grand opening, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday revealed 629 Georgia vehicles for which the county of origin could be determined.
As might have been expected, due to the geographical proximity of the store, the largest percentage of vehicles in the parking lot were registered in Coweta and Fayette counties. Of the 629 vehicles, 253 vehicles, or 40 percent, were registered in Fayette County while 243 vehicles, or 39 percent, were registered in Coweta County.
But the geographic draw of the new store showed something else. Aside from tags from Fayette and Coweta, the parking lot was also populated with vehicles from 27 other Georgia counties.
Whether Sam’s was the destination or whether motorists were just passing through the area and decided to stop in at the new store, the parking lot, nonetheless, was also populated with vehicles from Meriwether, Spalding, Troup, Pike, Douglas, Clayton, Upson, Franklin, Henry, Fannin, Hall, DeKalb, Talbot, Clarke, Bibb, Banks, Carroll, Irwin, Bulloch, Lamar, Butts, Rockdale, Taylor, Newton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
It should be noted that the vehicles of the large number of Sam’s employees, numbering approximately 200, did not come into play for the tabulation since employees parked at the nearby Walmart in Peachtree City and were shuttled to work from that location.
Beyond shopping availability and employment opportunities, the new retail store will also bring sales and property tax revenues to Coweta County. The same will be true of Fischer Crossings’ 40,000 square-foot NCG Cinemas one-third of a mile to the east expected to open in March. But the employment and economic impact goes well beyond that of Sam’s and the cinema.
Fischer Crossings several years ago was zoned for approximately 800,000 square feet of commercial space situated on the northeast, northwest and southwest corners of the intersection of Hwy. 34 and Fischer Road.
A report in September entitled “The Economic Impact of Fischer Crossing Shopping Center on Coweta County” compiled by Dr. William Smith and Dr. Hilde Patrol-Boenheim of the University of West Georgia’s Department of Economics showed that, at eventual build-out, Fischer Crossings retailers would create an estimated 978 jobs with an annual estimated payroll of $21.15 million.
As for local tax revenues for the Coweta County coffers, the report indicated that local sales and property taxes will generate $5.2-7.1 million annually, or 8.7-11.9 percent of Coweta County’s total sales tax and property tax revenues.
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 10:06am
#2
Sam's Club
I'm sure its going to pull from Peachtree City retailers.
Has anyone been in K-Mart lately. Could be first casualty!
Haddix hates all big boxes....everyone. He's qouted at meetings as saying he will help tear them down.
Hmmmm...FRESH MARKET...what are they (independent Mom and Pop)?
The vaccum is now turned on...watch PTC people flood over there and watch more PTC retailers shut down.
Sat, 02/05/2011 - 12:33pm
#3
Kmart
Sam's is definitely going to pull money from Fayette County retailers but I don't think you're Kmart theory is necessarily true. Kmart kind of has a niche market with the seniors on that side of town who just want to shop as close to home as possible. I think that is what has kept Kmart alive so far and will probably keep them going in the future. Fayetteville however, I think is really going to suffer more from this than PTC. Many people in Fayettville already shop in PTC due to increasing crime and I think more will start making the drive in this direction to get to Sams. Hopefully by default PTC may pick up some revenue from that traffic.
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 2:32pm
#4
Congrats
"As for local tax revenues for the Coweta County coffers, the report indicated that local sales and property taxes will generate $5.2-7.1 million annually"
Congrats to Dandy Don and Lap Dog Doug on their firm stand against growth and the likes of Fischer Crossing. We finally have confirmation on how much Fayette County and Peachtree City lost. I have to think that our share would have certainly covered the 0.2 - 0.5 mill increase the dysfunctional gang is arguing about, as well as covered the extra public safety. Thanks giving us the headaches without the benefits!
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 9:03am
#5
Haddix The Sam's Club Prophet
Looks like Donnie Darko's prediction of no one from PTC and Fayette County shopping at Sam's Club are about as accurate as predictions that no one would support WalMart here in PTC. You know...that quaint notion that PTC folks would rather pay higher prices in mom and pop shops. So, when you are writing that check for your additional mill increase instead of investing that money on your child's education or maybe taking the family on vacation, don't forget to drop ol' Donnie Darko and his lap dog Doug StarkDumbAsHell a note thanking them for their idiotic anti-business stance. By the way, hey Doug, how's that tax incentive thing for the Industrial Park that you touted was going to produce new jobs working out for you so far? Haven't seen or heard of any new companies coming to PTC yet? Such small headed people we have elected.
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 10:04am
#6
Well sure boss, you may be right about the anti-business thing
but in fairness, where would a Sam's Club go in PTC? That's the key to the whole thing and is the main contributor to jobs and tax revenue. Same thing with the movie theater - where? No land anywhere. Council talks about redevelopment, which is a certainty going to occur in the future, but the lack of intellect and imagination on the current council puts that one on the back burner.
Even if Sam's Club got here before Target in Kedron, I don't think they would buildup there over their present site. After all they are positioned perfectly as it is no more than a 10 minute drive for most of PTC and all of east Coweta.
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 8:31pm
#7
Dead guy, there's plenty of room on Hwy. 74
just north of the little hardware store.
The sign there says 17+ acres.
A COSTCO only needs 16 acres.
Yes, that property is located in an Industrial zoned area, but PTC already lost that fight a few years ago.
Maybe the PTC City Council should ask COSTCO to reconsider coming to PTC.
Sat, 02/05/2011 - 2:06am
#8
RIGHT
And if the 'double D's' dumb and dumber had allowed Kohls or Costco instead of building the two mimi strip malls on McArthur end which is sitting empty that would have been plenty of room. Idiots
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 9:10pm
#9
Don't know much about zoning, do you - bad_ptc?
I thought you were Dan Tenant and therefore should know all this. But if you are not or just sandbagging, the fact is that you can't locate retail in the industrial park. Not that anyone would, especially there since the access for shoppers is difficult. Remember (or learn) that the first part of the process is that the retailer has to want to be in a specific location. Again, if I were Sam's Club my first choice wold be where they are right now.
Retail in the industrial park gets conditional zoning only if they can prove their main mission is to serve tenants and workers in the industrial park - like Mike Hyde's gas station or Arby's. Yea I know it is all BS, but those are the rules and Costco or Sam's Club would not pass the sniff test.
Sat, 02/05/2011 - 5:21am
#10
Morgan
I guess Waffle House could set up anywhere it wanted, huh?
What about all these zoning REGULATIONS? Do all of these right wingers around here approve of those?
Well, the answer would be yes if their property was involved but not if someone else's property was in jeopardy!
Sat, 02/05/2011 - 12:34am
#11
Dead Guy, please read slowly
"Developer Mike Hyde sued the city and won after the city informally denied the project, contending such a use was not allowed in the industrial park."
"Though the city has a big box ordinance that limits retail businesses to a maximum store size of 35,000 square feet, that ordinance only governs land zoned for commercial use. Thus it doesn’t apply to industrially-zoned parcels."
http://archive.thecitizen.com/node/25030
If COSTCO had any desire to come to PTC our current shyster would be chewed on, swallowed and spit out for breakfast and any ordinance our great leaders have installed would face the same fate.
Walmart has done it more times than I can count and COSTCO has not only the money but some good lawyers.
Mayor Don and his 'mini me' wouldn't know what hit them.
Sat, 02/05/2011 - 8:02am
#12
You may be right about the rookie mayor and council
They would probably fumble any lawsuit that was tossed at them, BUT the fact remains that COSTCO or any other first team big box retailer would be stupid to locate in an inferior location just to be in a city of less than 40,000. They need higher population density in a 5 and 10 mile radius than we have and a higher traffic count on a major highway.
Hyde did indeed sue the city and won, but he played them perfectly knowing that the anti-business bias would cause them to overstep their authority. And I seriously doubt that Lowe's was really on the table. I think the goal all along was to have a convenience store. Wonder who was mayor back then. Leadership.
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 1:10pm
#13
Good Ridance
Good thing we ran that development out of town. We sure don't need people from 29 different counties spending money in Peachtree City. The article says there were a lot of Fayette County tags in the lot. Didn't the Mayor say that people wouldn't drive into Coweta to shop there?
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 8:40pm
#14
yellowjax
The crowds and counties being seen now at Sams will die down in about 60-90 days to normal.
It is odd and different than any place I have ever lived or visited in that in Georgia when a new restaurant or grocer or big liquor store opens, everyone including all; friends and relatives from 100 miles away come and go there and spend a few bucks.
That gives then something to brag or talk about for weeks---and give their opinion! Mainly about the sauces, and how much the clerks recognize them personally!
Most restaurants fail the test in the end and also grocery stores, but not liquor stores.
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 1:26pm
#15
Jax
You bet he said it, but you won't get him to admit saying that he did.
We all know Don, I'm never wrong, Haddix.
We shop at both Costco & Sam's. This new Sam's is much brighter inside than the store in Morrow & has more food tasting booths but seems to have the same merchandise as the store in Morrow. The staff is almost too friendly. At times it seems as if they want to be my very best friend. Costco gets most of our money. They have a much better selection of everything, books, clothes, meats, seafood, coffee, wine, breads, toys at Christmas, electronics, jewelry, frozen foods, prepared foods, canned foods, etc. Costco seems to be geared more towards families and Sam's seems to be geared toward small businesses. We are coming real close to dropping our Sam's membership. It would be great of Costco opened a store in Fayette. The Morrow Sam's and the Morrow Costco are less than 2 miles apart so why couldn't Costco open a store in Fayette. It would appeal to many families and would probably bring in more business than Sam's. Costco, please come to Fayette!