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Consultant says dynamics are right for explosive new retail growth in Paris



Rickey Hayes, founder and CEO of an economic consulting firm that focuses on retail development, said Panda Express is just one of many companies with their eye on the city.

The 56-year-old Paris native heads Retail Attractions, upon which the Paris Economic Development Corporation has relied since 2010 to sell Paris to retail executives as the place they should locate their next store.

Hayes talked to Panda Express during the past six months when the fast-serve Chinese restaurant chain was thinking of coming to Paris.

The company confirmed earlier this month it has purchased a site on the east side of Loop 286 and south of Lamar Avenue.

The owner of the property owns the rest of the tract between CVS Pharmacy and Workforce Solutions and is marketing it for a possible hotel and additional restaurants, according to City of Paris officials.

“One of the things we’re having to overcome right now are the lack of good retail sites, especially in the corridor of the northeast loop and the Lamar Avenue corridor, which is the region we’re keying on. So we’re looking at re-developing some pieces in that corridor.”

The Paris market is growing like some of the other booming retail communities, but it’s a market that pulls from a number of smaller communities scattered for 40 to 50 miles around, across Southeast Oklahoma and Northeast Texas, Hayes said.

“That’s what makes it dynamic. It’s not rocket science. It’s fairly easy to see, and I knew that from when I was growing up pumping gas at my family’s gas station in Paris, back when service stations were service stations. We had regular customers from Oklahoma who traded with us at our station.”

Panda Express didn’t just happen to fall in Paris’ lap by accident, Hayes said.

The dynamics are right for explosive new growth in Paris, he said, “but there’s a ton of work in every one of those new retail stores that you’ve got.”

Hayes said he cultivated rue 21, a girls’ clothing store that moved into the southeast corner of Paris Towne Plaza where the Social Security office previously was located.

He said he had discussions with Schlotzsky’s, Wingstop, Pizza Hut, and Which-Wich, a sandwich restaurant that will have space along with Denny’s in a travel center under construction now on the northeast loop by First Federal Community Bank.

.”I spoke to a group of Realtors in Paris last month at a breakfast meeting, and one of the brokers said, ‘I know I can’t prove you or your company is responsible for all these new restaurants, but we weren’t getting them until we hired you, so keep up the good work!’

“I think what you’re starting to see is kind of a culmination of a lot of dissemination of the Paris story, on a larger scale than it has ever been shared before,” he said.

“You never know which conversation you have with somebody is the deal that pushed them over the edge and got them to commit. But you share the data, you’re persistent, you’re talking to them, and then they have to do their due diligence,” he said.

“And the more people we can get to look at the market, the better we are, because the market speaks for itself.”
Chili’s and Appleby’s are national brands with premium sales in Paris, and that speaks well, Hayes said.

“And you’ve got Walgreen’s and CVS and Home Depot and Walmart – you know, all the big nationals – and so their volume and the amount of tax revenue and sales tax that comes back to the community is indicative of a strong and dynamic retail market. So that’s what they’re seeing.”

It’s good that Paris’ city government is more stable than it’s been in a number of years, Hayes said, “and I think there are some great things to come. We’re working on some deals that I can’t discuss, but it’s very exciting and I hope it continues.”

The announcement by Hastings Book Store that it is closing its doors in Paris which will leave a sizable vacancy on the east side of Paris Towne Center, across from the Rusty Taco and Schlotzsky’s, which are two of the newest restaurants.

Hayes said he is sure that the spot on the east side of Paris Towne Center won’t stay vacant long.

“They may have to sub-divide it, and there may be two or more tenants in the spot Hastings was in, but that’s a dynamic area of the shopping center,” Hayes said.

“Hastings is one of those retailers that has experienced kind of the curse of the modern era. I mean, you can buy books and CD’s and rent movies online cheaper than you can get in your car and go to the store. Paris is not the only store Hastings is closing. They’ve closed several in cities I’m working in right now.”

His relationship in Paris is unique, he said, “because I grew up there – lived there for 45 years. I was a police officer from the late 80’s through the 90’s. My mom (longtime Paris News employee Onvie Hayes) and brother still live there. His father was Coyle Hayes.

He and his wife of 33 years — the former Wendy McCollum, like Hayes a Paris High School graduate — moved 12 years ago to Owasso, Okla., a Tulsa suburb. He became economic development director of the community, “which experienced real retail resurgence,” he said.

Hayes orchestrated the development of a 4.2 million-square-foot regional shopping district in Owasso.

In 2007, he began Retail Attractions, whose clientele has grown to more than 125 cities.

He got to know PEDC executive director Steve Gilbert “from some work we did together in Oklahoma,” where Gilbert was involved in economic development before coming to Paris.

“When Steve got the EDC job (in Paris), I called him and met with him and Pike Burkhart, Rick Poston, Dan Smith and some others that were on the EDC at the time. They had a retail market study done that they weren’t really satisfied with the result they got,” Hayes said.

“Steve knew me and knew what we did and that our company was more goal-oriented and recruitment-oriented, so I did a market analysis at the PEDC’s request and came to Paris and presented it to the community at Love Civic Center in January of 2010.”

The company hired him to work in a consulting role to recruit new retail, and Hayes is now in his fourth year representing the city’s interest.

“Steve and I have a great relationship. I think he may be one of the best economic development guys in Texas. He certainly did well in Oklahoma. The Skinner deal was huge, and they are working on some big deals. Hopefully, there are just more to come.”