The retail economy in Tucson continues to shift.
Plans for big grocers are in the works in certain pockets of the city, but vacancy of older properties with a large footprint presents a challenge in other areas.
Meanwhile, officials are working to attract more visitors downtown, where local retailers need support.
“Everyone should want to come support our local entrepreneurs and merchants,” said Crystal Moore, president and CEO of Downtown Tucson Partnership. “Downtown isn’t just the heart of the city; it’s a cultural hub in Southern Arizona.”
Concerns about parking and safety make some locals avoid downtown.
“Get over the fear,” Moore said. “People plan luxurious trips to other city centers, but don’t go downtown to their own.”
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DTP offers information on parking lots, garages and spots to catch the streetcar to shop, dine, visit a museum, watch a parade or join an event.
“It’s not uncommon to grab an Uber or Lyft and come downtown,” Moore said. “Our messaging is about experience.”
She plans to host an event with commercial real estate brokers to tour some vacant spaces and get information on parking.
Having a cup of coffee at a spot such as HeeMee Coffee & Pastries, located in downtown Tucson, helps support local retailers.
“There’s only a handful of commercial real estate brokers that are comfortable with downtown,” Moore said. “In order for our downtown to remain strong, we need people to go and invest so we can reinvest.”
Through the Rio Nuevo district, a percentage of sales tax generated downtown is reinvested there.
Efforts to make a downtown visit more appealing include a collaboration with DTP, Rio Nuevo, the city and county to support a program with ambassadors who help visitors with safety concerns, pick up trash and report maintenance issues, such as graffiti or lighting.
“If you come downtown and buy a cup of coffee from a little, local coffee shop you’re doing your part,” Moore said. “We’re this little gem that needs to be shined.”
In other parts of the region, the city was not immune to the wave of major national retailers closing their doors.
Large spaces were vacated by Big Lots, Party City, Walgreens and Forever 21, for example, Nancy McClure, a local retail specialist and first vice president with CBRE, notes in her annual Big Box report.
Many of those spaces were backfilled with fitness, entertainment, medical tenants and discount stores around the city.
As retailers follow rooftops, major retailers are building new shops in the two “most-explosive growth submarkets” of Marana and the southeast side, near Vail, McClure said.
Remodeling construction continues at Walmart, 455 East Wetmore Road, to turn it into a Supercenter.
Both Sprouts and Costco have plans to open near Houghton and Old Vail Roads, and Walmart plans a superstore on Tangerine Road and Interstate 10.
More central development includes a new Sam’s Club at Swan Road and 29th St., Trader Joe’s on Broadway and Plumer Avenue, and Walmart is upgrading its Neighborhood Market on First Avenue and Wetmore Road into a Supercenter.
A new Trader Joe's is nearly finished with construction, 2150 East Broadway.
As modern construction makes older, vacant buildings obsolete, McClure predicts that many empty big-box stores will be demolished for redevelopment.
