The first batch of new stores is opening at The Shops atMercedes with a surge of more retailing to follow as the $60-milliondevelopment establishes the city as a prime location for development.

The bustling Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets are justacross the street from The Shops. The two retail developments standing side-by-sidein the Mid-Valley will make Mercedes a retailing powerhouse in the Rio GrandeValley. Burlington, the Boot Barn and dd’s Discounts have each opened theirstores in recent weeks. Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less will soon followsuit.

It represents only phase 1 of The Shops' retaildevelopment. A major anchor store has a letter of intent to build at The Shops,and two “sit-down restaurants” are part of phase 2 plans, said Fred Gonzalez, aboard member for both the Mercedes Economic Development Corporation and the Chamberof Commerce.

“There are several other deals in the making,” saidGonzalez, who has years of retail management experience in the private sector.“Everyone is looking at what’s going on with the first stores to open.”

The Shops are a Merit Commercial Real Estate development.The company is based in San Antonio and its chief executive officer – WillCollins – is a McAllen native who has maintained close ties with the Valley.Merit is among the most active real estate developers in the RGV and has longtimebusiness connections with major retailers and restaurant chains.

City leaders are confident that Merit and the MercedesEDC will continue to promote and grow the local retail market. Mercedes, theysay, is on the precipice of complimenting a thriving outlet mall with even moreof a retail presence.

“It’s going to shift some of the shopping habits ofpeople that maybe would go to other places in the Valley who will now morelikely come to Mercedes,” said Dr. Ruben Saldana, a Mercedes city commissioner.“These stores (at The Shops) will be a catalyst for other investors.”

Stores Of Distinction

Retailers choose the markets where they will go versus acity’s efforts being the determining factor in suchdecisions.

Making a good impression and working well with developerscan, however, boost a city’s chances. Merit’s Collins has praised the MercedesEDC and city leaders for assisting his company in an efficient and professionalmanner in getting The Shops project through local permitting and infrastructureissues.

A focal point, Gonzalez says, is seeking retailing thatwhile not always unique regionally to Mercedes, can be stores that are notfound in neighboring Weslaco or even in Harlingen. There are no Marshalls orBurlington stores in Weslaco, for example, and that is the sort of distinctionMercedes is seeking, he said.

“These are popular stores,” Gonzalez said. “The citizensof Mercedes and other nearby communities can do their shopping at these storesright next door and not have to go to Harlingen or McAllen.”

It’s the sort of “shifting in shopping habits” that cityCommissioner Saldana speaks of as Mercedes emerges as being more of a retailing destination. The outlet mall in Mercedes isalready a huge regional shopping draw for Mexican nationals and RGV residents. Saldanasees The Shops development as being “a force multiplier for other developments”coming to Mercedes.

“It’s just going to make the pie bigger for everyone,”the city commissioner said of overall retailing and commerce in Mercedes.  

Keeping Them Here Longer

Mercedes also offers another big draw and that’s openland along Expressway 83.

There are almost no open spaces left in the upper Valleyalong the expressway in Pharr, McAllen and Mission. Mercedes still has plentyof expressway adjacent land to offer. Gonzalez would like to see some of theavailable property go to new hotels and restaurants, especially as it pertainsto Mexican shoppers.

At the retail store he manages at the outlets, Gonzalezsays he often hears Mexican shoppers say, “me tengo que ir a McAllen,” toeat or find a hotel. If Mercedes had more of both, he says, the city could keepvisitors here longer. All of that is more likely as the next phases of TheShops come into view in the years ahead.

-         Ric Cavazos

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