Strong Connections Make Retail Successful
New developments highlight our social network with retailers.
Rowland Davidson, AIA, ASID

In an age of networks, connectivity is the word. Our computers connect us to the world and our cell phones connect us to one another and with the advent of social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, our acquaintances are interconnected. In the retail environment, connections have always been critical to success. The number of cars per day that pass by a potential location has always been part of the retail developer’s equation. Visual cues, whether they are highly branded store images or merely signs, are essential if customers are to connect with a retailer. It is rare that a retailer can locate in an isolated spot and draw customers; connections are one of the necessary elements that make retail successful and work well.

Jonquil Village

Jonquil Village will be a new mixed-use development located in Smyrna, Georgia.

Jonquil Village will be a new mixed-use development located in Smyrna, Georgia.  As a small town just outside  Atlanta, Smyrna found itself enveloped by Atlanta’s growth and eventually became a suburban extension. Rather than simply becoming another piece of suburban sprawl, Smyrna charted a course of redevelopment of its downtown. Capitalizing on the desire for an urban lifestyle within the quiet and safety of a suburban setting, Jonquil Village will be developed as a downtown residential, retail, and dining experience near Smyrna’s City Hall, courthouse, and other civic facilities. With around 300 residential units, two stand-alone retail anchor buildings, and numerous retail slots, how will Jonquil Village use connections to ensure that retailers get maximum exposure and sales?

Residential Density

Residential density has come to be recognized as an important factor in driving retail sales. As the popularity of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods has returned, the concept of residential density and its relationship to retail has developed. An old idea that has come back into vogue, residential density refers to the number of people who live within a walking radius of retail destinations. Generally considered a quarter to one half mile, the number of residents who can walk to shops is an important factor in the development of “new urbanist” developments like Jonquil Village.

Vehicular Traffic

Automobile traffic will always be a significant predictor of retail success. Retail locations on major thoroughfares and at the intersection of busy roads experience constant exposure to passing drivers. Usually measured in terms of automobiles per hour, traffic flow can determine whether enough potential customers drive by an establishment, become aware through signage or other visual cues, and ultimately, whether they stop.

Jonquil Village is at the intersection of the two major roads in Smyrna, Spring Road and Atlanta Road. This intersection is unofficially considered the gateway to Smyrna and makes it the most desirable crossroads in the town. The development will highlight its position with a prominent “Welcome to Smyrna” sign. 

Automobile traffic means parking.  Jonquil Village will accommodate cars with both surface parking and a below grade parking structure. This allows the retail component plenty of parking without competing for spaces with Jonquil Village residents. The number of spaces has been carefully determined as well — for each 1,000 square feet of retail space, five parking spaces have been designed. Restaurants warrant even more parking with ten spaces per 1,000 square feet of tenant space. The result is adequate parking even during the busiest times — a boon to retailers who lose customers if they can’t find parking.

Urban Connections

Mixed-use developments need strong connections to the city in which they are located. They need to be well integrated into the surrounding urban fabric as well as add to that fabric. Proximity to important public areas and buildings can accomplish this. A development that is located near possible places of employment can strengthen both the development and its surrounding city. 

Smyrna’s village green, containing the city’s important civic structures, is two blocks from Jonquil Village. This location within the city actually enhances the retail opportunity for shops in Jonquil Village.  With constant pedestrian and vehicular traffic generated by the city hall, courthouse, and other civic structures, retailers are assured of a reasonably steady number of customers passing by. Restaurants and fast food businesses benefit from the large number of employees within a few blocks.

Strong connections to adjacent residential areas provide a customer base as well.  Jonquil Village is separated by a former railroad right-of-way from a large residential subdivision. While the right-of-way has been converted in a “rails-to-trails” program to accommodate hikers and bikers (yet more traffic passing by retailers), the developer of Jonquil Village decided to strengthen the connection to the subdivision by adding a pedestrian bridge across the right-of-way. Families who might have previously made an automobile trip can now simply walk across a pleasant bridge, shop for groceries, grab a bite to eat, and pick up their dry cleaning. 

Anchor Stores

Anchor stores have become an essential element in most mixed-use projects.  These stores have name recognition and “draw” that brings in large numbers of customers. Those customers, in turn, are exposed to smaller boutique type shops or restaurants. Smaller retailers benefit from the “spin off” these anchors generate; without that overflow of customers, many small shops cannot attract sufficient traffic to be viable.

Jonquil Village has planned for two anchor tenants, one at each end of the development in order to stimulate foot traffic back and forth that brings shoppers past the small retail slots. Publix, a regional grocery chain, will anchor one location. The selection of a supermarket is particularly efficacious; no supermarket of its size (40,000 square feet) had been located in this area of Smyrna.

Intrasite Connectivity

Connectivity is important within the site. Jonquil Village’s “new urbanist” streets allow residents, customers, pedestrians, and automobiles to all intermingle in the horizontal plane. Vertical connections exist as well; the one and two bedroom apartments above the retail level empty out to the street at several elevator and stair towers. A resident of Jonquil Village, just walking downstairs and outside to his car will pass several retail stores every day. The below grade parking is punctuated as well with “subway” stops—elevators that bring people up to the retail/street level that are located throughout the development.

The Elements of Connectivity

Connections are important to mixed-use developments. Developers who consider residential density, vehicular traffic patterns and parking, urban connections and context, the importance of anchor tenants, and intrasite connectivity are well poised to create mixed-use developments that actually work and bring retail customers to shops and restaurants within the development. Those connections are what will make Jonquil Village a retail success.

Rowland Davidson is a principal of Atlanta-based architectural and design firm Lyman Davidson Dooley Inc.

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