Quote:
Originally Posted by pauld315
Developer doesn't care as long as the rent is paid. These places don't open stores in the middle of the country. Not enough people here is the reason.
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"Not enough people" isn't the reason. There are (more or less) 130,000 people just living in the Villages. There are tens of thousands more living in the towns surrounding the Villages.
To compare, there are TWO BJ's close to where I live in the north. One in my town, one the next town, approximately 8 miles from it, on the same main commercial road.
My town has around 30,000 people living in it. The other town has perhaps 50,000 by now. Between the two towns served by two different BJs, there aren't even as many people living in them, as the entire population of the Villages.
I'd say it's probably more the demographics. There aren't enough *families* that would benefit from buying in bulk. You can't buy just one or two tomatoes at BJ's, you have to buy a box of 6 or more. Great if you're making sauce, not so great if you just need a week's worth of sandwiches and salads for yourself and a spouse. You can't buy a small box of oatmeal that will likely last you two months. You have to buy the enormous box that will attract bugs before you get halfway through it, if you're the only one who eats it. You can't even buy a normal sized bottle of Listerine. You have to buy the 1/2-gallon 2-pack. In a community where storage is at a premium, where would you even PUT all these extra things that you won't use for at least a year, that will expire in 6 months?
Also the big warehouse stores are physically unattractive. Imagine your brand new home in one of the newer areas, that currently looks out over a marsh with the commercial district just beyond that. And now, because BJ's also does oil changes and tire replacement service, part of that marsh is fenced with chain link, and a big HUGE gated dumpster corral is now the sight you see beyond the marsh. And just past that is this looming, stark, sharp-edged cement block that stretches up into the horizon like a hideous lego that a giant kid randomly plunked onto the landscape.
Not to mention all those tractor trailers that rumble in and out of that back lot every single day, starting at 7 in the morning.
Don't get me wrong, I like BJs. I'm a member here. But I can't imagine a box warehouse store being even a temptation for the developer. And since he has his hands in the pockets of every municipality surrounding the community, I don't imagine those municipalities would entertain the possibility either.