April 16, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

Jimmy John’s will be opening its first location in Brandon by midyear.

The growing national sandwich shop will be in a new retail center in the Brandon 90 Plaza development off Interstate 90 and Splitrock Boulevard.

Houston Hartwig, who has been a franchisee since 2017, will open the Brandon store as his fifth location. His other stores are in northwest Iowa.

“When I see a town growing like a rocket ship, it’s perfect,” Hartwig said. “The broad nutshell, the town is busy. The average class size at the schools is much larger than an average small town. The median income is higher than average. There are young families, busy families, and all those things make Jimmy John’s tick.”

Combine that with his location that offers easy access to interstate travelers and it added up to an obvious fit for the SDSU grad.

“I have friends that live in Brandon, and going to Brookings, I’d drive through almost every weekend,” he said. “It’s always been an ideal spot, but when I found out about the development at I-90, it made me look into Brandon more, and I said this is the place to go.”

Brandon economic development leaders are hoping other national retailers and restaurants see similar potential in their community. They recently contracted with the business development firm Retail Strategies to look at opportunities to grow national retail.

“We have a need in Brandon for more commercial development, so we’re shifting our focus a bit from being solely on industrial growth as it has been for the last several decades,” city development director Patrick Andrews said.

Along with Sioux Metro Growth Alliance, the city recently attended the Retail Academy, hosted by Retail Strategies in Alabama.

“We looked at opportunities to find properties in town to redevelop or ways we can join with developers to partner on projects,” Andrews said. “We wanted to learn more about retail and how it works. With industrial development, you often build it, and they will come. That’s not necessarily the case with retail.”

With retail, it’s often a question of making numbers add up — from population to income levels — and then finding appropriate locations with enough access and traffic.

There were some eye-opening moments there for Brandon, which had marketed itself as a community of about 11,000.

“But when you look at the population within 10 miles, it’s actually 151,000 because we can draw from a lot of eastern Sioux Falls, and that number looks a lot better,” Andrews said.

Many Sioux Metro communities face a similar task in recruiting national retail, said Tyler Tordsen, CEO of Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

“This kind of business attraction can require a lot of patience and willingness to work through various requirements, but Brandon is taking the right, proactive approach by starting now,” he said. “As our metro-area communities continue to grow in population and grow closer to Sioux Falls, they’re going to be part of the conversation for national retail expansion if they position themselves correctly.”

That’s true, said Ryan Tysdal, vice president of commercial real estate at Van Buskirk Cos., who has multiple properties on the market in Brandon.

“There’s never been a lack of desire by local and national retailers and restaurants to be in Brandon,” he said. “The struggle has always been the limited supply of commercial ground for sale. A large majority of prime retail frontage is taken up by schools and churches, which is great for the community but a challenge because a restaurant or retailer is wary of going into a location where it might be hidden.”

Tysdal, who grew up in Brandon, is marketing a multitenant retail center next to Scooter’s at 100 E. Holly Blvd.

“I still remember when we announced Scooter’s coming to Brandon — that was a huge deal. And this site now is available because the Scooter’s building owner bought excess land at his corner and is making it available, which gives us a desirable location to offer additional retailers,” he said.

“We have solid interest in two of the four spaces, including a national food tenant, so we’re seeing demand. I really enjoy bringing new retail offerings that will serve the next generation of Brandon.”

He also has commercial land in Trademark Homes’ Aspen Ridge development on the east side of town, located south of the Brandon Golf Course.

“We have two commercial corner lots available at the entrances to the Aspen Ridge development,” Tysdal said. “Aspen Boulevard is the main arterial roadway into Brandon from the east, and it carries a lot of traffic.”

The traffic as well as the mature neighborhoods and golf course surrounding the site make Aspen Ridge attractive to commercial and office users, he added.

In addition, Tysdal is working on multiple deals in Van Buskirk’s River Park development on the west side of Brandon.

“River Park has over a half-mile of commercial frontage along Holly Boulevard, which is the main commuter route to Sioux Falls,” he said.

“We anticipate being able to share information on an anchor retailer for that site soon, and we typically see additional stores and restaurants follow,” Tysdal said.

“Brandon really is a community ripe for certain regional and national names, and now that we have some significant land available, we think we’re going to see some announcements sooner than later.”

For Hartwig, who plans to open Jimmy John’s before the end of June, there’s a lot of appeal. His area managers will have a manageable commute as they help support the new store, and he anticipates being a draw for those who want to work in the restaurant business but at a place with desirable hours and a fresh product.

“When I look at locations, most of mine are in small towns,” he said. “And with Brandon, everything from the manufacturing industry to the new ice rink coming is exciting. Add in the possibilities of more grocery options, a hotel and other restaurants and it makes it very, very appealing.”