Logan expands retail options
As the population of Cache Valley grows, retail options for valley residents continue to expand.
“Logan is in a key advantageous position here, because we are the middle city in the valley,” said Logan Economic Director Nevin Limburg. “We can capitalize on renewing property in the valley instead of sprawling up and down the highway.”
The renewing of properties throughout Logan is creating new shopping and restaurant options for Logan residents that will help keep residents’ retail dollars in the valley, Limburg said.
Over the years, Logan has lost a large amount of retail dollars to the big-box stores in Layton, Riverdale and Ogden. With the recent additions of these kinds of stores, like Sam’s Club and Old Navy, the rate in loss of retail dollars has decreased and will continue to decrease in the future, Limburg said.
New retail stores like TJ Maxx, which is scheduled to open Thursday, will provide new options for valley shoppers.
“[TJ Maxx is] going to make quite an impact on our valley,” he said. “It’s a very nice store.”
Limburg said he expects TJ Maxx to have an impact on the valley similar to that of Old Navy.
“Old Navy had its second-best opening of all the stores in its whole chain,” Limburg said. “We figure TJ Maxx will have a larger impact.”
Other stores and restaurants he said will be built in Logan in the near future are Pier 1 Imports, Ross Dress for Less, Fazoli’s and the Olive Garden.
“Everybody is wanting to know when the Olive Garden is going to start,” Limburg said.
It will be built just west of the TJ Maxx store in the Cache Valley Marketplace. It is currently going through a voluntary environmental cleanup, which is slowing down the process, he said.
Limburg said officials at Olive Garden told the developer to go ahead with the construction plans, get the approvals and get started.
“We don’t have their plans yet, but we expect them any time,” he said. “I’ll bet we see those plans next month.”
The expected date of completion of the restaurant is not known but could be as soon as this fall.
“For everybody involved, we’d like to have it open by this fall,” Limburg said. “There’s going to be egg on some people’s faces if it’s not.”
Limburg said the developer must have the restaurant opened by fall to meet his obligations on the site. He said there are agreements in place that provide incentives for a completion by then.
South of the Borders bookstore and Old Navy in the Cache Valley Marketplace is a 10,000-square-foot building, the occupant of which will be announced in the next few weeks, Limburg said.
“They’re not ready to announce a name yet. It’s going to be a clothing store,” he said. “It’s going to be one locally that is relocating. That’s all I can say.”
The store will be a popular type of clothier that will appeal well to the student population, Limburg said.
“It’ll fill a gap, but it’s not The Gap,” he said.
Along with these developments, which are confirmed to be built in Logan, Limburg said there are a number of other proposed developments, including a renovation of the Cache Valley Mall.
The mall property was sold in late 2002 by JP Realty to General Growth Properties, and in a Nov. 13, 2003 Utah Statesman article, Limburg said General Growth was to announce plans for the mall within the month.
Plans have still not been announced, but Limburg said General Growth wants to do a renovation of the interior of the mall and add about 40,000 square feet on the west side of the building.
“We had plans for that last spring, but then it got a hold put on it because General Growth was buying JP Realty. So we had no problems with that, because General Growth is bigger and brings more to the table to make that [expansion] happen,” Limburg said. “They have more clout with anchors.”
Limburg said he couldn’t say what would be a new anchor store for a mall expansion, but speculated that a store like Deseret Book could play a major part in the plans.
“Normally a store of that size would not be one to worry about to be considered an anchor, but because of the draw that Deseret Book is wherever they go, they are considered a major entity and like an anchor in their store here,” he said. “They’ve been trying to expand for a couple of years.”
Students can look in Friday’s edition of The Statesman for the public’s reaction to retail growth in Logan.
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