By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

– Business brokers. German sports shoe and apparel company Puma is opening a store at 285 King St. (Kerrison’s former site), and the city of Charleston helped pave the way.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is opening a store on South Market Street, next to Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream.

In December, the city proved instrumental in landing upscale electronic retailer Sharper Image at 235 King St.

Several other retail deals are in the works for downtown Charleston—deals the city chooses not to disclose at this time, says Kevin Wadley, the city’s business recruitment and redevelopment manager.

Sparked by urban retail developer Robert Gibbs’ recommendations for Charleston, the city is on a quest to expand Charleston’s retail market, not just along King Street but in the historic market district, the Neck area, Daniel Island and West Ashley.

Gibbs, whose Birmingham, Mich.-based Gibbs Planning Group has preformed more than 200 urban retail studies, presented his group’s Charleston retail study in May. Perhaps the most salient point is that Charleston could add 747,200 square feet of retail space. Just how many stores that square footage translates into is hard to say. However, those extra stores could add $168 million in sales to Charleston’s $9 billion retail market, according to Gibbs.

With Gibbs’ study as a guide, Wadley and Sharon Brennan, the city’s economic development director, hit the pavement.

“We go block by block down King Street to see what space is available and the kind of retail business we can put in that space,” explains Wadley, a former Music Farm co-owner who joined the city’s economic development team about a year ago.

Lower King Street, from Broad to Fulton streets, is primarily an antique shop destination, the study shows. Middle King Street, from Fulton to Calhoun streets, is mostly upscale clothing stores. Upper King, from Calhoun to Line streets, is the corridor’s design boutique district. Brennan and Wadley try to match a retail prospect to the appropriate location.

Retail prospects come from a variety of sources: advertisements in retail publications, business data web sites and even word of mouth, according to Wadley. After contacting the prospect, Wadley arranges a meeting between the prospect and Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. Local commercial real estate firms are also contacted.

Apparently the teamwork has paid off, with ground-floor retail space vacancies along King Street having dropped from about 35 in 2001 to roughly 20 today, says Brennan.

It’s not just about signing a prospect, however. It’s about following up to make sure the prospect’s needs are met. “We work with them on whatever issues they have, such as permitting and zoning,” Brennan explains. Throughout the courting of the prospect and the follow through after the prospect is landed, the city could have as many as 10 economic development team members involved.

Wadley notes that building Charles­ton’s retail market is also about jobs—nearly 1,000 of which have been created during the past three years. That’s what happens when the city and commercial real estate brokers work together to bring businesses to Charleston.

– Health care heights. Roper St. Francis Healthcare is launching a health care leadership academy aimed at improving employee performance. By focusing on topics such as process managing, communicating, prioritizing and delegating, and constructive thinking, the Roper St. Francis Healthcare Leadership Academy hopes to produce health care standouts that raise the organization’s efficiency to loftier heights. Roper St. Francis will select 50 applicants to participate in the program, which consists of six one-day sessions.

– Sailing soiree. Tall ships from around the world will converge on Charleston during the Maritime Festival June 17-20. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Eagle, the Pride of Baltimore and sail-training vessels from Romania, Mexico and Colombia are among the ships participating in the event. The Maritime Center claims it will be the largest gathering of tall ships in U.S. history. For more information, call Jeanne Aichele at 805-3052 or e-mail jaichele@charlestoncvb.com.  

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@crbj.com.

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