7/2/2004 - Sumiton's retail market expands as northwestern suburbs spread

Birmingham Business Journal - July 2, 2004 by Gilbert Nicholson Staff

Construction of a new retail center and major expansion of a regional outlet furniture store in Sumiton are evidence of growing retail activity in the western reaches of the Birmingham metro area.

The new 16,555-square-foot Sumiton Village is under construction at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Bryan Road and is diagonally across from the Wal-Mart supercenter in Sumiton.

Set to open in September in the town of 2,665 just over the Jefferson County line in Walker County, Sumiton Village is a development of Brigham-Williams Inc., Tuscaloosa-based Buchalter Co. and other investors.

Sumiton Village has stirred so much interest that Brigham-Williams is planning to build an adjacent 10,000-square-foot center, says Mark Bush, a sales and leasing executive with the company. An outparcel on 2.25 acres of the property also is available for subdivision and development, he says.

Meanwhile, TD's Fine Furniture Outlet - a 17-year-old regional store drawing customers from Montgomery and north Alabama - is adding 21,000 square feet to its existing 30,000-square-foot showroom, says co-owner Butch Drake, son of founder and co-owner Tildon Drake.

"Ten years ago, Sumiton was a sleepy little town halfway to Jasper. But it could become the next Leeds, Moody or Chelsea," predicts David Kahn, president of Birmingham's DMK Entertainment Inc. DMK Entertainment, the nation's third-largest Blockbuster video franchisee, will open a store in Sumiton Village.

"What you see is newer construction in Sumiton," Kahn says. "The last several years, a lot of new retail has been going out there."

To be sure, Brigham-Williams is capitalizing on the traffic generated from the Wal-Mart supercenter across Highway 78. The retail mecca draws shoppers from the Corner and Bagley communities to the north and West Jefferson to the south, says Sumiton Mayor Henry "Petey" Ellis.

But there's more to the site's value, says Bush, the Brigham-Williams executive.

"The area needed some shop space," he says.

The younger Drake says Wal-Mart putting a supercenter in Sumiton is evidence of retail strength. "They do a lot more research than we can do," he says. "They must figure the area's going to grow."

"Basically, you're either going forward or backward, and we decided we wanted to go forward," Drake says. "We wanted to be one of the largest furniture stores in the state, so we decided to expand."

Homebuilding spurs growth
What's fueling Sumiton's current spurt is saturation of residential areas north, east and south of Birmingham, observers say.

"There's a lot of older people who farmed this land out here for years, but now they're subdividing it into residential," Ellis says. "You can buy land in eastern Walker and western Jefferson counties for a lot less than you can in north Shelby County."

Additionally, Sumiton's location halfway between Jasper and Birmingham has transformed the town into a bedroom community, Bush says.

"You wouldn't know it (by) looking, but off Highway 78 there are a lot of subdivisions being built; a lot of really nice homes," Bush says. Sumiton Village and the additional retail strip will fill those shopping and services needs, he predicts.

Add good schools to the mix, and there's a strong attraction for families.

"You can have the quality of the city without living in it," Ellis says.

Less traffic, more business
Drake, the furniture store co-owner, says contrary to conventional wisdom, rerouting Highway 78 traffic to nearby Corridor X - the new four-lane between Memphis and Birmingham - should make business better.

"It will take a lot of work and truck traffic off 78," says Drake, giving customers easier, less-congested access.

"Few people traveling from Atlanta to Memphis are going to stop and shop at a furniture store."

Meanwhile Kahn, the Blockbuster franchisee, is doing more than locating a store in the new retail center; he's a part owner.

"I liked the area so much I'm investing in the building," Kahn says. "We've gotten a lot of interest from the people of Sumiton asking for a Blockbuster video store."

The closest Blockbusters are more than 10 miles away in each direction, in Jasper and in Forestdale.

General contractor for Sumiton Village is Bradford Building Co. Architect is Rob Walker. Other tenants include a Dollar General discount store, a Chinese restaurant and an Advance America check-cashing store.

Contact BBJ senior reporter Gilbert Nicholson at (205) 443-5632 or gnicholson@bizjournals.com.

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