By. Diane Benjamin
A new Costco store will be opening in the former Bergners location in the Champaign mall. Was Bloomington even looked at?
Where is the Economic Development Council? Where is Bloomington’s Economic Development department?
Champaign had to promise tax breaks based on future sales, is an empty store better?
Bloomington’s mall has lots of that! Was Costco not the “right fit”?
Bloomington and Normal have given taxes breaks to everyone and there brother with ridiculous abandon. Stop the bleeding!
Champaign gave future money that wouldn’t have existed without the store. Like empty stores more?
I don’t mind the (recent examples) Rivian or Fiala Bros. Brewery argument of: we aren’t going to give you money upfront, but if you generate revenue, we’ll refund part of it to cover part of your investment. I do mind the Portillo’s guaranteed money on the line.
Fiala Bros. Brewery and Costco could be the same argument, just different scales. Fiala Bros. Brewery bought a building, will rehab it, and open a business that will compete with other retailers. Any increase in the property taxes due to the renovations will be borne by the owner. However, some of the competition will suffer as a result of a new business in the market. The same could be said about CostCo. You could rehab the building and drive up property taxes if those aren’t given away but this will compete with grocery stores, retailers, and other warehouse stores like Sam’s Club.
The Portillos deal was with the developer. Koos wanted the hotel gone, so he funded tearing it down.
Maybe that’s WHY the P.O moved over by the mall, to get more people over to KOHLS, the ONLY store that’s left. And TOTALLY inaccessible to mainstream citizens.. MORE government stupidity!
I would guess that Costco didn’t want a store this close to the one in East Peoria. They would likely see a higher profit overall from one in Champaign and one in East Peoria.
….but, that doesn’t change the fact the B/N is run by morons. 🙂
Some links to Tari’s rants and rages killed Marshalls…..wonder if they kept Costco out of town, also.
I wonder. 😉
Here’s (another) reminder of how naive and stupid our local government leaders are when it comes to economic development. This gem was in a Pantagraph article on Jan 5, 2017: “The closure of Macy’s presents many new opportunities for CBL to attract multiple new, top-tier national retailers to Eastland Mall that are not currently in Bloomington, retailers that have long wanted to be in Bloomington and retailers which have been requested by area residents for many years,” Grammer added. That’s right, everyone…retailers that have long wanted to be in Bloomington are on the way. Or, they were on their way, nearly three years ago, according to Renner’s coatholder, Austin Grammer.
my guess is Costco didnt bribe Tari enough