The first stores at The Shops at Mercedes are opening in what local elected officials and business leaders see as another indication of the Mid-Valley’s emergence in the Rio Grande Valley’s retail market.

“We’re seeing a shift in shopping habits,” said Dr. Ruben Saldana, a Mercedes city commissioner. “These new stores are a force multiplier for other developments.”

And those developments are also being seen in the neighboring cities of Donna and Weslaco. The latter is currently seeing the construction of a 168,000-square-foot Sam’s Club on FM 1015 near Expressway 83. It’s the sort of big box store that Weslaco residents have longed to see in their community. In Donna, the 11-acre Shops at 493 continues to grow, adding new stores and restaurants in demonstrating what a smaller community can produce.

“Retailers are coming to understand the income and demographics of the Mid-Valley and that not everything has to be in bigger cities,” said April Castaneda, the executive director of the Donna Economic Development Corporation. “In Donna, we’re showing that we can perform in the same ways bigger cities do.”

Mercedes has demonstrated that for years with its central RGV location featuring the bustling Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets. Fred Gonzalez is a manager of a store at the outlet mall and often hears Mexican shoppers say, “me tengo que ir a McAllen,” to eat at restaurants or to stay at hotels.

“We have a great mix (of shoppers) right now,” said Gonzalez, who serves on the boards of the Mercedes EDC and the local chamber. “We need more sit-down restaurants and hotels next to the outlets and the shops for them to stay here longer.”

Catalyst For Investment

The opening of the new stores at The Shops at Mercedes is a step in that direction.

Burlington, Marshalls, Ross Dress For Less, Boot Barn and dd’s Discounts have each opened in recent weeks at The Shops. Gonzalez says “there are several deals in the making,” with a major anchor having a letter of intent to build at The Shops. Two “sit-down” restaurants are scheduled for phase 2 of the development, he said.

“Everyone is looking at what’s going on with the first stores to open,” Gonzalez said of The Shops, which are located adjacent to the outlet mall.

The new stores in Mercedes and the Shops at 493 in Donna are both Merit Commercial Real Estate developments. The company is based in San Antonio and its chief executive officer – Will Collins – is a McAllen native who has built close business ties in several Valley cities. The company’s success in growing Donna’s Shops at 493 is an indication of what can be done in Mercedes.

The recent opening of a Cheddar’s at the Shops at 493 is the sort of restaurant Mercedes is seeking along with stores like Ulta Beauty, Bath & Body Works and PetSmart. Merit’s longtime business connections to major retailers and restaurant chains have paid off for Donna and will likely do the same in Mercedes.

City Commissioner Saldana sees the abundance of open land along the expressway in Mercedes as providing prime properties for investments.

“You have all of these huge industries and investments being made at the Port of Brownsville, and they will be looking westward for other opportunities,” he said. “We have a lot of land by the freeway. I think these stores will be a catalyst for other investors.”

Coming Of Age

It’s the same sort of opportunities that Castaneda is looking at in Donna.

Like Mercedes, Donna still has plenty of open spaces along the expressway. That land availability when coupled with the success of the Shops at 493 is telling investors that the usual investments of the past in the McAllen area may be better spent in an ascending Mid-Valley market.

“I feel like the bigger (RGV) cities are already saturated with retail,” Castaneda said. “We do have land (availability) and market growth. We’re going to see some new development in the next year along the expressway.”

Donna has the extra element of having its own international bridge that is located eight miles south of town. The Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge will soon see a $62 million expansion to handle fully loaded commercial cargo trucks.

“It gives us a niche,” she said of the bridge. “It provides us with a straight access to Mexico.”

Castaneda says that the years-long construction project at the Pharr Interchange – with its long traffic lines – served as a further incentive to keep Donna and Mid-Valley shoppers closer to home. Rising gas prices are yet another incentive to shop locally, she said.

“The money you used for gas to go to McAllen can now be used at local stores,” Castaneda said.

The RGV pie, says Mercedes City Commissioner Saldana, is getting “bigger for everyone.” It’s no longer exclusively about a McAllen market that while still growing may not be the overpowering regional retail hub it once was. The suburbs – or in this case the Mid-Valley – are coming of age.