Nashville Bits and Pieces

[NashRugger]

Watch it be an IKEA distribution center.

[Jamie Hall]

I agree the furniture is just so-so, but having an Ikea is just a status symbol of sorts. Keep in mind that people drive 3-4 hours just to shop at Ikea, so it's a destination retailer with very few US locations. The (potential) tax windfall of having a store would be big.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Jamie Hall

[rookzie]

Isn't Memphis closer to St. Louis and Atlanta as well?  Again, sorry if I sound like I am bashing Memphis.  I was stationed there for three years so I know the area pretty well.  I know Germantown/Cordova is an affluent area, but I am still not getting the decision especially with all the growth and development going on in the mid state. Perhaps the FedEx hub was a selling point. I guess we will know more details tomorrow.  According to the article I read, a black curtain was hung in the hall of mayors in Memphis and IKEA furniture was being set up on the other side as well as a piece of paper on a chair with the IKEA logo.  Sounds legit to me.

 

Yes, Memphis might seem "close" to St. Louis, and indeed it is closer than Nashville is, but actually Memphis is farther from St. Louis, than Nashville is from Atlanta, even though Memphis is downstream on the Miss. River from St. Louis.  And it also may seem surprising that Memphis is only about 40 miles, at most, closer to St. Louis than Nashville is to St. Louis.

 

It is well recognized that Memphis Int’l Airport has the FedEx World Hub, which, in terms of air cargo, is a hard rival to beat for a domestic regional air clearinghouse.  Although not directly related to an Ikea business decision, Memphis also has the unparalleled advantage of being on the Miss. River, even with its congestion and large number of locks and dams.  Memphis has I-55 as a direct express roadway connection to St. Louis, and northward to Chicago, south to New Orleans; I-40 to points coast to coast, while Nashville does have three major interstates (along with the rage), two of which it shares with Memphis, and with St Louis (via I-24 and I-64/I-70).

 

While Memphis always has been more of a rail-passenger venue than Nashville, during recent decades, particularly the ratification of NAFTA during the mid-‘90s opened the spillways from the ”Law of All kinds of Consequences”, almost overnight inducing (some outlandish) corporate acquisitions of rail shippers, one most notably the Illinois Central RR takeover by the Canadian National Ry., giving Memphis direct paths from border to border, and a rather redundant and competitive shipping service to St. Louis and to the rest of the heartland, as other domestic carriers (Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe [bNSF]) scrambled to fatten themselves to follow suit in wolfing down the cake.  What this did this end up doing?  It has made Memphis, being rather centrally located, one of the current top five U.S. rail shipping centers – basically (and in a sense “poetically”) a primary dispatch and run-through interchange and “terminal” for freight, just as it had been still some 65 years ago for passenger layovers.  Memphis has five Class-I railroads, to Nashville’s li’l ol’ single Class-I.  That alone – I should be “sorry” to concede – ramifies into making Memphis logistically more accommodating for the sake of distribution, while not necessarily for retail or the end user (although as you stated, quite a few upscalers lie within the surburban east (with incorporated Germantown, and unincorporated Cordova).

 

Class-I (Class-One) - line haul freight railroad with annual operating revenue of at least $467 million (figure typically revised upward or downward by the Association of American Railroads - AAR)

 

It doesn’t help me to say this, but notwithstanding alleged municipal mismanagement and economic despair, Memphis could become another once dormant Mount St. Helens and re-erupt after a hundred years, whenever the right mix of waxing assets can begin to conflate at the right time.

 

-==-

 

Edited December 16, 2014 by rookzie

[satalac]

Not sure why the fuss. I mean, sure, IKEA is impressive to behold, but after I left it was more "meh". I'm just glad to see some positive news coming from Memphis. I'd love to see Memphis have the kind of success that Nashville has had. It would benefit the entire state if they starting getting stuff like Nashville. Sure, I'm a Nashvillian, but I'm also a Tennessean and I hate to see any city in this lovely state be painted in a negative light. I've had the benefit of having my parents being raised in both West and East TN and I have a special place in my heart for each of the three grand divisions. 

[ariesjow]

If this rumor is true, then my faith in humanity has been ruined.  Why on earth would IKEA go to that decaying town and not Nashville??  The NBJ kept saying that IKEA wouldn't go to Nashville because the population is too small.  Well, the population of the Memphis area is even smaller, and there's certainly a lot less disposable income in Memphis than there is in Nashville, and Memphis just isn't growing.  Then again, St Louis isn't growing, either, but IKEA is headed there.  Maybe this announcement tomorrow is for an IKEA distribution center in Memphis.  THAT would make more sense.  At any rate, I'll be eagerly watching to see what happens with this.

 

Perhaps more than a smidgen hyperbolic?   I want an IKEA too, but it wouldn't be that big of deal for a metro a bit smaller to get one before Nashville. Memphis wouldn't be the first one. Salt Lake City already has one, but the Provo metro is also nearby and that store services a sizable region.

 

I think it would only seem shocking for IKEA to choose Memphis over Nashville first because the latter is on a much stronger trajectory at the moment and has a larger metro. With Nashville on it's current trajectory, I also don't believe a potential Memphis store would prevent a Nashville store from following soon after like I may have a few years ago. That said, I'm still not very convinced the Memphis announcement tomorrow will be for an IKEA store as I would think some rumors would have worked there way out a while ago. It has also been noted numerous times that IKEA prefers locations within approximately 50 miles of 2 million people.

Edited December 16, 2014 by ariesjow

[UTgrad09]

Not sure why people go gaga over IKEA, as if it is some sort of status symbol. 

 

I think it would be a good thing if we had one, especially considering the amount of apartment construction and the potential need to fill said apartments with furniture. 

 

If Memphis gets one, I'm perplexed (for the reasons already stated in the thread), but not upset.

 

Perhaps if they were built vertically, not horizontally, then I would be upset.

[East Side Urbanite]

I want Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga to get as much good stuff as possible. We need the Big Four cities in this state to all be thriving.

 

WW

[farm_boy]

^^^ Agreed. If Memphis gets an IKEA, then I am happy for Memphis and the state of Tennessee. This is a good thing

[BnaBreaker]

Completely agreed with the above posters.  If this IKEA rumor is true, then I couldn't be more thrilled for Memphis.  I CANNOT STAND the BS elitist attitude some Nashvillians have toward Memphis.  Why the hell would you root against a city in your own state?!

[BnaBreaker]

On another note...here is a really exciting development that I haven't heard anyone talk about yet.  The city is looking to acquire land upon which a Native American site from the 1400's was discovered, and looking to transform it into park land centered around the native site. 

 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2014/12/15/mayor-dean-forest-hills-celebrate-proposed-future-kellytown/20462967/

[freema33]

While I agree, I cannot believe Ikea is coming to Memphis over Nashville, this is very exciting news indeed! Please save your 'haters gonna hate' comment(s) for Facebook. 

[ariesjow]

IKEA store has now been confirmed to announce a Memphis opening tomorrow via IKEA reps. 

 

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/dec/15/wharton-to-make-major-retail-announcement/#comments

 

"Ikea, the world's leading home furnishings retailer, will announce plans on Tuesday morning for a proposed Memphis store. The proposed Ikea Memphis would be the first Ikea store in either Tennessee, Arkansas or Mississippi and would increase the Swedish retailer's presence in the Southeastern U.S."

 

Bad news: So we're still passed over for an IKEA again. Good news: those of us who enjoy the store will have one an hour closer. Let's go down to Memphis to support it so much they give us one of our own!

Edited December 16, 2014 by ariesjow

[UTgrad09]

Hey, it's a big get for Memphis. But we should be happy for them. That's a city thirsty for some positive news, and there's a lot of under-the-radar development happening there. Rather than lick our wounds and ponder why we got "skipped over", let's consider the other side of the equation: Memphis has been skipped over for many other *first* retailers entering Tennessee. We have been spoiled silly in that regard. We aren't the only city in the state, and I can't help but think that perhaps Memphis's cargo hub played some sort of role in landing IKEA.

 

It is a loss for us, but it is definitely a WIN for Tennessee. Think of the sales tax dollars coming from Arkansas and Mississippi to Tennessee because of this.

 

Tip my hat to Memphis.

[BnaBreaker]

Now watch them build it in DeSoto County, MS.  lol

[titanhog]

Now watch them build it in DeSoto County, MS.  lol

Or West Memphis, AR.  Wouldn't that be a hoot?!

[Vrtigo]

At least I have family in Memphis, so I'll be down that way with some regularity. I'll get my cardboard furniture fix one way or another!

[nashmoney]

Even though I would like to see this go in Nashville, I give my congrats to Memphis. I would rather see them build in the state than to build in another city that is 2-3 hours away from Nashville like Louisville, or Birmingham. Memphis has the potential to be a great southern city and it is exposure like landing a coveted store like Ikea that will bring positive news to the city. Plus being able to draw from a 4 state area (TN, MS, AL, AR) probably had a lot to do with it.

 

Nashville has been getting spoiled for so long with first in state retailers like Cheesecake factory (we have two, Memphis has none) Trader Joes, Nordostrom, and just about every store in Green Hills Mall (Louis, Burberry, Tiffany, etc).

 

Plus, with Ovation in Franklin, the expansion at Green Hills, and the retail aspect at the Convention Center redevelopment downtown, we more than likely will have more first to state retailers we can brag about.

 

Sad news is Nashville, Birmingham, Louisville, and Little Rock are probably all screwed in ever getting an Ikea since there will be a store within 2-3 hours of each city.

Edited December 16, 2014 by nashmoney

[jmtunafish]

I'm not a Nashville "elitist" by any stretch of the imagination.  But I am still pretty miffed about this.  Not because I harbor any ill will against Memphis.  On the contrary, I lived there for 8 years and adore the city.  But we were told that Nashville just doesn't have the population to support an IKEA.  So how the heck did Memphis bamboozle IKEA into building a store there?  I feel that someone lied to us somewhere, because clearly that magical 2 million population figure didn't matter when it came to picking Memphis, but it did matter for not choosing Nashville.

 

Then again, IKEA has stores in other stagnant river towns like Detroit, Cincinnati, and (soon) St Louis, so maybe IKEA is just trying to do its part to boost the economies in these places.  Who knows.  From my house I'm just as close to Atlanta as I am to Memphis, so I'll continue to have IKEA weekends in Atlanta where there's a lot more to do, and lower sales taxes.

 

At any rate, while I'm glad for Memphis, I'm sick that this means that Nashville will most likely not get an IKEA.  Granted, there are places where IKEA has multiple stores within an hour or two of each other (Tampa-Orlando, Miami-Ft Lauderdale, Houston-Austin, 2 in Chicago, and a bunch in the NE and in CA.  But I doubt that IKEA will grace us with one of their stores now that they've settled on Memphis.  ugh.

[volsfanwill]

I want Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga to get as much good stuff as possible. We need the Big Four cities in this state to all be thriving.

 

WW

along this note. When I was working on my second degree at UT a few years ago, in one of my social geography classes we discussed why certain stores move into certain cities and not others.  the specific stores we discussed were Ikea, Cheesecake Factory, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. the commonality between them is that they are generally frequented by and move into areas of high education and affluence. basically the argument was that Ikea goes to cities with a large transient recent college grad population.  and the other three are located in cities with affluent college grad populations. I mention this because we actually discussed in this class that Nashville was likely to get an Ikea while Knoxville was not likely to get any of the 4.  Chattanooga could get a Trader Joe's because it goes into "hip" areas. And of course, Nashville already had everything but an Ikea at the time.

The irony is that within a year of taking this class and having this discussion Whole Foods, Cheesecake Factory and Trade Joe's were all announced in Knoxville.  In other words, Tennessee as a whole is getting stores that in the past were "above" us.

 

 

Sad news is Nashville, Birmingham, Louisville, and Little Rock are probably all screwed in ever getting an Ikea since there will be a store within 2-3 hours of each city.

I disagree, Ikea is in the middle of a very large multi year expansion. I would actually say we will likely get one.

[MLBrumby]

From Eric Snyder at NBJ... 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/morning_call/2014/12/dont-get-mad-nashville-but-memphis-is-getting-an.html

[nashmoney]

along this note. When I was working on my second degree at UT a few years ago, in one of my social geography classes we discussed why certain stores move into certain cities and not others.  the specific stores we discussed were Ikea, Cheesecake Factory, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. the commonality between them is that they are generally frequented by and move into areas of high education and affluence. basically the argument was that Ikea goes to cities with a large transient recent college grad population.  and the other three are located in cities with affluent college grad populations. I mention this because we actually discussed in this class that Nashville was likely to get an Ikea while Knoxville was not likely to get any of the 4.  Chattanooga could get a Trader Joe's because it goes into "hip" areas. And of course, Nashville already had everything but an Ikea at the time.

The irony is that within a year of taking this class and having this discussion Whole Foods, Cheesecake Factory and Trade Joe's were all announced in Knoxville.  In other words, Tennessee as a whole is getting stores that in the past were "above" us.

 

I disagree, Ikea is in the middle of a very large multi year expansion. I would actually say we will likely get one.

 

Knoxville is on the come up from my days at UT. I graduated in 2007 and the retail scene was really starting to explode with the creation of Turkey Creek in West Knox.

 

Good to hear these national retailers are focusing on TN's smaller cities. The big 4 cities in TN all have a strength in that they have strong Universities and great unique industries in the city limits that set's them apart not just from one another, but from cities in other states as well.

[Nathan_in_DC]

Knoxville is on the come up from my days at UT. I graduated in 2007 and the retail scene was really starting to explode with the creation of Turkey Creek in West Knox.

 

Good to hear these national retailers are focusing on TN's smaller cities. The big 4 cities in TN all have a strength in that they have strong Universities and great unique industries in the city limits that set's them apart not just from one another, but from cities in other states as well.

 

I finished in '06 and I'm truly shocked every time I'm in town (usually I pass through at least once a year, stay for a day maybe every two years). Nashville has always been a 'big' city, whereas Knoxville simply has not.  I, personally, think that the changes that Knoxville, especially downtown Knoxville, underwent since I arrived there in the fall of 2002 have been astonishing.  Nashville has had people going downtown, even if they were just tourists going to Broadway and 2nd, for decades.  Knoxville NEVER had anyone go downtown unless you were working at the court houses or one of a couple of businesses.  Now people are living there, working there, and going out at night there.  Its CBD is a wholly different monster than it was barely 12 years ago.

 

It's sort of like if you have really short hair, a growth of a quarter inch makes you look shaggy.  But, if you have it on your shoulders, no one notices that quarter inch.  It's a matter of scale.

[nashveit]

This article cites sources claiming that an announcement for a nashville ikea is imminent. Site has already been selected...

http://m.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2014/12/16/ikea-confirms-plans-for-memphis-store.html?ana=e_memp_bn_breakingnews&u=11045160944e494634c675fede19f6&t=1418745366&r=full

[BnaBreaker]

This article cites sources claiming that an announcement for a nashville ikea is imminent. Site has already been selected...

http://m.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2014/12/16/ikea-confirms-plans-for-memphis-store.html?ana=e_memp_bn_breakingnews&u=11045160944e494634c675fede19f6&t=1418745366&r=full

 

You should probably edit your post...you'll give people a heart attack.  lol....he meant Memphis folks, not Nashville.

[nashveit]

No I didnt. You need to read the last paragraph.