SLC's 3rd West Becoming Destination for Big Box Retailers

Marc Giauque reportingSalt Lake's 3rd West is becoming a destination for big box retailers. Two new major retailers will soon open and the city says it's likely there will be more.

At the corner of 13th South and West Temple, movers are piling furniture from "Tire World" into a truck.

Keith Brown, Tire World Manager: "They bought the property and they're going to make it some of the finest parking lot in the valley."

Keith Brown, Tire World Manager: "It's a huge change with the changing dynamics of the neighborhood with the big boxes coming in it's probably a good change."

Good, Brown says, because all the extra retail, including a Wal Mart across the street, hasn't done much to bring in extra customers.

Keith Brown, Tire World Manager: "We've had some issue with security at night that we've never had in the past. Just leaving work has become an act of defiance to get across traffic anymore."

But for other businesses, a Wal Mart is a boon, Salt Lake Economic Development Director Allison McFarlane says other retailers often try to build nearby.

Allison McFarlane: "It is fairly easy to purchase the land there because the land is in larger parcels and for a while the land was still relatively inexpensive."

McFarlane says the area has long been identified as a place for big box, which she thinks can co-exist with ma and pa.

Allison McFarlane: "It certainly helps the tax base. We're happy to have them here. You know I think there's room in Salt Lake City for both...the small, independent, local shops and also the big boxes. Clearly, that third west corridor has become the big box area."

And, she says, it may continue.

Allison McFarlane: "I do think it will creep north. We've seen it move from 21st South north now up to almost 13th."

McFarlane says the area will likely include other restaurants and shops, that often go up, around the big boxes.

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