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They renamed it the Willis Tower because of late Chicago icon Wesley Willis, right?
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Sears interested in Columbus for relocation
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GCrites80s
5xNW
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Posted 1 year ago # -
columbusmike
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myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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Walker said:
Hopefully the city/county/state will chip in a heavy tax incentive package for a relocation effort so that everyone in the region can be big losers too!This smacks of trying to hook up w/ an old high school flame at your 20-year reunion because you remember what she used to be like before the multiple divorces, kids, and botched facial surgeries.
Sears is representative of a dying business model, in fact, they might be better termed a zombie retailer. Let's not hitch our tax apple cart to a hearse please.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Pickerington_Kyle
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fringeoutfitters said:
+1^ and -1 -> "Commercial real-estate experts say the most likely place for a retailer such as Sears to land would be in a suburb such as New Albany or the Polaris area. Although the Far West Side and the Rickenbacker Airport area are key distribution hubs, Holderman said, top management officials typically prefer that a headquarters location be based in an upscale suburban area closer to where they’re likely to reside."Corporations seem to love the sprawl and they continue to support the suburban campuses. I understand it may be cheaper to build "out" in these areas rather than "up" but the above statement makes me less excited. The likelihood of a tower being built Downtown is small and the impact it could make on our residents seems lessened in a suburb. I could only imagine the positive impact of a tower (aesthetically and economically) with 6,000+ people working Downtown. This would help us tremendously as a city and a region. Imagine that many bodies in our Downtown. Endless possibilities for retail and small businesses.
Work your magic Mike.
Yeah, I would love to see Sears create a tower in downtown, possibly 700 ft and add 6200 workers that would bring in extra money into small business around Columbus, and would promote more growth.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Act_Normally
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columbusmike said:
I wish our government would spend more time encouraging/supporting small business rather than trying to cater to these big businesses and industry. Instead of giving big business a million dollar tax break, give 100 small businesses a $10,000 tax break and I'm willing to bet you'd see a lot more success.Having Sears move to Columbus would be worth $10,000 to 100 small local businesses *every year*. That's why they court these companies.
Posted 1 year ago # -
mBuckeyem
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Act_Normally said:
Having Sears move to Columbus would be worth $10,000 to 100 small local businesses *every year*. That's why they court these companies.Ohio is doing a ton of both from what I've read. Investing in startups. Trying to attract businesses looking to relocate.
Both of these strategies have time frames. Ohio needs jobs right now, which could be provided immediately by a Sears or other large company moving to our state. There are a number of businesses that would have to expand in order to meet the needs of Sears. 6200 new customers for our state and local economy to serve - Real estate, auto sales, restaurants you name it - all would grow due to those 6200 new jobs.
There is also ROI in providing assistance and incentives to start-ups. This type of investment helps position the state for the future. The growth might occurs several years down the road.
We could take the money that we might offer Sears and give it to small businesses and startups, but I don't know that it would have the immediate effect that we need.
Posted 1 year ago # -
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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mBuckeyem said:
Ohio is doing a ton of both from what I've read. Investing in startups. Trying to attract businesses looking to relocate.Both of these strategies have time frames. Ohio needs jobs right now, which could be provided immediately by a Sears or other large company moving to our state. There are a number of businesses that would have to expand in order to meet the needs of Sears. 6200 new customers for our state and local economy to serve - Real estate, auto sales, restaurants you name it - all would grow due to those 6200 new jobs.
There is also ROI in providing assistance and incentives to start-ups. This type of investment helps position the state for the future. The growth might occurs several years down the road.
We could take the money that we might offer Sears and give it to small businesses and startups, but I don't know that it would have the immediate effect that we need.
What's the incentive strategy to get Sears to stay after the initial load of free dollars dries up? Why wouldn't they just move on to the next suitor?
The problem with this "beggar thy neighbor" policy is that it works equally well in the reverse, and it only encourages companies to expect free everything from policy-makers based on nothing more than their gross size.
Posted 1 year ago # -
groundrules
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JAL
Downtown Columbus
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myliftkk said:
What's the incentive strategy to get Sears to stay after the initial load of free dollars dries up? Why wouldn't they just move on to the next suitor?The problem with this "beggar thy neighbor" policy is that it works equally well in the reverse, and it only encourages companies to expect free everything from policy-makers based on nothing more than their gross size.
You would still have to add conditions to receiving the tax breaks and other goodies. Example would be that Sears would have to provide X amount of jobs for X amount of years here in Columbus to receive everything the city and state would offer. I believe it also mentioned that those 6200 jobs would produce up to another 3500 jobs from outside vendors supporting the Sears operation. So offering them a lot could provide a big return on the investment.
Posted 1 year ago # -
NEOBuckeye
Ohio At-Large
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jpizzow said:
So would the Sears relocation to the Columbus region be considered temporary employment? :P Last I heard, the company wasn't doing so hot and nobody was doing much of anything to fix the situation.That's pretty much what I said. Some folks are speculating about things that really have no basis in reality as far as Sears is concerned. The only new skyscraper they will be building anywhere in the foreseeable future is in the unemployment office consisting of paperwork for all of their employees who will likely be "boxed" shortly after the holidays.
Posted 1 year ago # -
bman
New Albany
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I don't think you guys are giving the Kenmore brand enough recognition ... they may have to close more stores and merge more of their lines (Kmart, Sears) but I think the Kenmore Brand has value to it and will either be sold off or be the linch pin of their revival. Someone mentioned it above, any relo with incentives would require a guarantee of X number of jobs for Y years ... we would have to have our payback.
New Albany will take Sears if you downtowner's don't want it! It'll go nicely next to Bob Evans.
Posted 1 year ago # -
jpizzow
Above the American Apparel building
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Deal or no deal, you can't pay the city if you don't pull in the revenue. The last time I walked into a Sears, I felt like I was warped back to the 80's. The company isn't even relevant anymore, except for Sears Hardware, which is actually a pretty stellar division of the company. Maybe they should just accept there fate, shrink a little and focus on what works.
Posted 1 year ago # -
zp945
Clintonville/Short North
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jpizzow said:
Deal or no deal, you can't pay the city if you don't pull in the revenue. The last time I walked into a Sears, I felt like I was warped back to the 80's. The company isn't even relevant anymore, except for Sears Hardware, which is actually a pretty stellar division of the company. Maybe they should just accept there fate, shrink a little and focus on what works.I know it's only one store but... http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2011/09/23/sears-shuttering-clintonville-hardware.html I hope they can turn it around but it will take some serious re-branding.
Posted 1 year ago # -
jpizzow
Above the American Apparel building
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^^ Yea, retail is brutal. These big boxes just suck the life out of the smaller players, i.e. Lowe's, Home Depot, Mernard's, even Wal-Fart. How can you compete with that?!
I'm all for the added jobs, a substantial amount at that. But, I would be afraid, with the track record of Sears, that they would move here, occupy or build a new space, and then, in a few years, fold and leave an empty space, all the while not living up to their obligations to the city. If they can prove that they can somehow get their shit together in the meantime, then, by all means.....I'm just not seeing it happen though. I'd like to be wrong.
Posted 1 year ago #
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