Fall 2012-JOUR 271: Big-box stores in Oxford

Katie Hughes

Jour 271

Final presentation

November 5, 2012

503

Big-Box stores

OXFORD, Miss. – Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Pet Smart, and Office Depot are currently the large retail stores in Oxford. According to Oxford’s Chamber of Commerce vice president, Christy Knapp, each store has turned out to be quite successful, but many have questioned why Target has not made its way to Oxford.

There has been a previous effort to open a Target in the college town and the Chamber of Commerce was committed to bringing the new addition into town, but it was Oxford itself that did not meet Targets requirements. “Target was looking for some significant incentives from the community to come. When that did not materialize, their interest waned,” said Knapp. Since then, Oxford’s demographics have not measured up to their current requests for a store location.

Population

There are many hurdles that a big-box store must go through in order to come to Oxford, which includes the determination of true population, given the large number of students and the lack of available retail development space in the highest traffic areas. According to Knapp, she predicts that large retail stores will be making their way to Oxford in the future due to a growing population and a bigger demand for goods and services.

Target or Wal-Mart

Adding a Target to the town of Oxford would not only bring in a new business, but would give the people of Oxford more shopping opportunities. Options are important to Kaitlin Gates, a current student at the University of Mississippi, who believes that if a Target were in town, many would choose shopping at Target over Wal-Mart due to better quality of the products. “Not only does Target sell Ole Miss merchandise, but it would be to their benefit to have a store in town,” said Gates. According to Gates, “The shopping experience is much more enjoyable at Target than at Wal-Mart.”

Beneficial to the Community

There has been a great success of big-box stores in small towns regarding the economy. It has restructured America’s economic and physical scene. Opening a Target in Oxford would bring more job opportunities and with the growing population of the town, those people will need jobs.

Target Employee Perspective

Executive Team Leader for Target, Lucy Cross, agrees with the decision that Target should wait for the population to increase within the Oxford area before any decisions are made but believes that when the time is right, a Target in Oxford will be very successful. “With the majority of the population being students, it would make it hard to bring in steady revenue,” said Cross. “If we were to open a Target right now, we would be attracting seasonal shoppers and we will not settle for that.” Cross believes that once the population reaches their requirements and the demand for goods and services increases, the possibility of opening a Target in Oxford will be happening sooner than later. “It also does not hurt that Oxford currently stands as the fastest growing city in Mississippi,” said Cross.

Contacts:

· Christy Knapp

Chamber of Commerce

Vice President

Christy@oxfordms.com

· Lucy Cross

Executive Team Leader of Target

Lucy.cross@target.com

· Kaitlin Gates

Student

Krgates@go.olemiss.edu

CQ Researcher-