Stores band together to attract customers

07/06/2006
By: DEBORAH ROWE , Villager staff

Neighborhood officials in Grogan's Mill have started highlighting businesses on a Grogan's Mill Web site in the hopes of bringing the hustle and bustle back to a once thriving shopping center. The Web site is one of several initiatives and measures being undertaken to help bring customers back to the Grogan's Mill Shopping Center.

Bruce Cunningham, president of the Grogan's Mill Village Association (GMVA), said declining patronage at the shopping center, located on Buckthorne Place, is being caused by competition from nearby Market Street. "For the food stores it has primarily been H-E-B, versus Randall's grocery store here in Grogan's Mill," he said. "H-E-B has a bigger selection than Randall's, and its prices are good on a number of items. People tend to go to Market Street to get a lot of shopping done all at one place."

Another problem causing shopping numbers to fall is the location of the Grogan's Mill Shopping Center, Cunningham said. "The center is set so far back that people don't even know we are here," he said. "Members of the GMVA became concerned about the center not having enough business to be viable. So what we did was have a meeting with the store owners, managers and the property manager to come up with ideas. What we thought we could do initially was bring in traffic by having special events, whether it is flea markets or farmer's markets."

Right now the GMVA is planning a chili cook-off sometime in the fall, Cunningham added. "The GMVA has also asked the Woodlands Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for directional signage in The Woodlands, to put up more signs for the center," he said. "We are also asking the county to maybe put up some signs on Sawdust Road indicating where the center is located. We are working with the Covenant Administration Department to see what we can do to make the place spiffier."

Currently, the GMVA is trying to increase traffic to the center moving it to a more prominent location on its Web site, www.gmva.org. "What we will do is put in pictures of the store managers and staff, along with short write-ups about the stores and staff so people get to know about them more. We think this will attract more shoppers to the center." The Web site also contains information such as an area map, schools, libraries, places of worship, health care, recreation, parks, retail and dining, entertainment, news and events, real estate and detailed information on the GMVA.

Nick Ransford, manager of the Beverage Shoppe in the center, said that he recently met with the co-owner of the property for the center and discussed possible renovations to the property, including resurfacing the parking lot and redoing the roofing. "Overall, he seemed very positive about fixing up the shopping center," Ransford said. Ransford said that since the inception of the GMVA, the businesses at the center have started banding together to promote each other. "I have other stores' business cards sitting out on my front counter," he said. "Because of the GMVA, I believe that we can increase traffic to the center by helping each other out."

Deborah Rowe can be reached at drowe@hcnonline.com.

Bruce Cunningham, president of the Grogan's Mill Village Association; and Nick Ransford, manger of the Beverage Shoppe in the Grogan's Mill Shopping Center; are actively trying to increase traffic to the center.
Photo by Deborah Rowe