Retailers give high-five to Omaha; healthy economy, low unemployment, high income rates spur retail activity - Omaha, Nebraska

Discount Store News, Nov 6, 1995 by Arthur Goldgaber

OMAHA, NEB. -- "Finished Business" is a popular bumper sticker among drivers here, a reference to the state's beloved football team and perennial runner-ups, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers, which finally gained the national respect the state sought for many years when the team won the 1995 NCAA football championship. Now Omaha's residents would like to see more recognition for their prosperous and hardworking city, which has a 97.5% employment rate and affordable housing, but is often overlooked by national best-cities-to-live-in lists and must work hard to recruit workers.

The next vindication for a city and state with a Rodney Dangerfield complex will only come when Money magazine declares it the best place to live in the United States--although it still has not managed to crack the top 20. This in spite of being cited as having the nation's lowest unemployment rate, lowest unemployment duration and the second-smallest gap between the rich and the poor, according to a report released by the Washington, D.C.-based Corporation for Enterprise Development this past May.

Omaha, the nation's 48th largest city, has a population of 335,795 people and a total of 618,262 people in the entire five-county metropolitan area, according to the 1990 census. Although its population is growing at a slow pace, the area has a median household effective buying income (EBI) of $37,227, higher than the national average of $35,056, according to statistics compiled by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

Job growth has also seen a healthy jump in the past few years. Between '88 and '94, Omaha's employment grew by 15%. And since Omaha is home to many 1-800 reservations centers and telemarketing firms, the service sector grew at a vibrant 29% since '88.

Although Omaha's excellent economy may be ignored by national business publications, retailers have been flocking to build stores in the region in the past few years because they realize the low unemployment rate and strong economy mean that Omaha's consumers have cash to spend.

And there is still no end in sight to Omaha's retail-building potential. "There is no slowdown in retail construction," said Jay Lerner, president of The Lerner Co., an Omaha-based real estate firm. "If anything, the activity is stronger than ever and more retailers, particularly big box retailers, are interested in Omaha."

Lerner and other real estate executives enthusiastically rattle off all the retail projects that have been completed or are slated for completion in the next few months. The hottest areas for construction are in the Northwestern and Western regions of the city, especially close to the intersection of 132nd and Maple Streets and 72nd and Dodge Streets.

Projects include:

* At 72nd and Dodge, construction plans in the works for a Barnes and Noble store and a Best Buy just west at 74th and Dodge. Rumor has it among the real estate community that Circuit City is also trying to build a store close to this corner.

These retailers want locations close to Omaha's locally owned electronics and computer store--MegaMart--which is part of the Nebraska Furniture Mart complex on 72nd Street. The Furniture Mart is 80% owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which is headed by financial wizard Warren Buffett, the city's most famous resident.

* Target opened its Super Target this past March at 132nd and Maple. Across from Maple is the Eagle Run Shopping Center anchored by a Kmart, as well as local 15-store supermarket chain Baker's, which opened its largest store here in early 1994. From the Super Target parking lot, one can see the construction site for a Borders bookstore across 132nd Street.

* Further west at 144th and West Center Streets, a 28,000-sq.-ft. Barnes & Noble recently opened close to the Oak View shopping center. An 80,000-sq.-ft. Kohl's Department Store, a Home Express store and a Blockbuster Music Store are nearing completion in the area.

* At the Westroads shopping mall at 108th and Dodge Streets, high-end department store chain Von Maur recently celebrated a grand opening.

* In Papillion, a second Super Target is slated fore completion in March 1996. The town is located a few miles south of Interstate 80 on 84th Street.

* Just east of Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a huge site at the Lake Manawa exit off Interstate 80 includes a Menards, a Wal-Mart, a recently completed Sam's Club and a Toys "R" Us, which is under construction.

Is this too much of a good thing? Real estate executives such as Boh Kurylo emphasized that until recently Omaha had few national my way back from work because I had to make a special trip to come to the Super Target."

A young couple about to begin their grocery shopping at Super Target said they buy frozen prepared foods and meats there, but they still go to other supermarkets for "real food."

Just across the street at Baker's, the parking lot was also filled with customers. The store is open 24 hours a day to compete with Super Target. Baker's customers cited tradition and "a long history of shopping there" as the main reasons for their choice.