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

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

It represents only phase 1 of The Shops' retail development. 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, a board member for both the Mercedes Economic Development Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce.

“There are several other deals in the making,” said Gonzalez, 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 – Will Collins – 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 longtime business connections with major retailers and restaurant chains.

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

“It’s going to shift some of the shopping habits of people that maybe would go to other places in the Valley who will now more likely 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 a city’s efforts being the determining factor in such decisions.

Making a good impression and working well with developers can, however, boost a city’s chances. Merit’s Collins has praised the Mercedes EDC and city leaders for assisting his company in an efficient and professional manner in getting The Shops project through local permitting and infrastructure issues.

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

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

It’s the sort of “shifting in shopping habits” that city Commissioner Saldana speaks of as Mercedes emerges as being more of a retailing destination. The outlet mall in Mercedes is already a huge regional shopping draw for Mexican nationals and RGV residents. Saldana sees 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 open land along Expressway 83.

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

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

- Ric Cavazos

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