Business & Tech
Memorial Drive: The Median Effect, Business Possibilities, And the Next Generation
Speakers and audience members at Thursday's PRISM meeting discussed several topics, but they all came back to economic development in the corridor.
During a two-hour meeting that covered a lot of ground, a group of at least 60 Memorial Drive stakeholders -- including many residents and some business owners -- learned more about the grocery industry, how factors such as crime and the median have affected retail overall in the corridor, success stories (the new Planet Fitness is reportedly doing well), and a few things they can do to help improve the area.
Pride Rings in Stone Mountain (PRISM), a community organization, presented Thursday's "Memorial Drive Community Driven Economic Renaissance, Proactive vs. Reactive Involvement" meeting at St. Timothy United Methodist Church.
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Speaking to the audience of concerned citizens and entrepreneurs were Charles Whatley, director of DeKalb county's Department of Economic Development; William Stogner, senior vice president with Selig Enterprises -- owner of the Stonemont shopping center where, he said, Planet Fitness is a success; and Jim Skinner, of the Atlanta Regional Commission Research Division, who provided Census data on the county as a whole and the Memorial/Rays road area specifically.
As a teen, Whatley, who is from Atlanta, said he used to come to Stone Mountain via Memorial Drive, where people could get something to eat and maybe spend some time shopping while they were out there.
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Future change to Memorial Drive should not be based solely on what people living in the area today want, but what the next generation wants as well, he said.
"When businesses make investments, it's really generational, when you think about it," he said.
Stogner said going forward, Memorial Drive is not just about bringing more retail, but services, such as the dialysis center DaVita.
In the attached video, Stogner talks about how the median on Memorial Drive has affected retail along the corridor.
Check back with Patch for more stories from Thursday's meeting.
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