Business - Columnists - Lisa Monti

Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

South Mississippi is hungry for more grocery stores

Here’s the deal:

Attention, developers. Here’s a tip if you’re looking for a project.

South Mississippi is really, really hungry for grocery stores — everything from upscale markets such as Whole Foods to a good old neighborhood Kroger.

Throw in a Toys R Us, a World Market and a Dunkin’ Donuts, and you could soon be packing them in.

At least that’s the message dozens of readers sent when we asked for their retail wish list in this column a few weeks ago.

When the responses were tallied, supermarkets were by far the most-wanted type of store. One reader’s humble request was for “a decent grocery store.” Some shared their long-standing wish for a supermarket in Bay St. Louis, where you still can’t make groceries post-Katrina.

Many readers threw out familiar names not found in these parts: Fresh Market, Publix, Trader Joe’s, in addition to the aforementioned Kroger and Whole Foods. Remember Albertsons’ brief stay here? Some shoppers want it to come back.

Our readers’ long wish list also contained many interesting — and seeming long shot — nominees, including IKEA, an amusement park, Bass Pro Shop, Cabela’s, Macy’s, Pottery Barn, Costco, Legal Sea Foods and Williams-Sonoma.

But let’s not count any of these long shots out. Ten years ago, who would have thought that there would be a Hard Rock Biloxi, or, for that matter, a Target in D’Iberville? Pigs do occasionally take flight.

Here’s the Deal, is a column by business editor Lisa Monti. She can be reached at 896-2311 or lamonti@sunherald.com.