More Markets for Mesa Ridge - Fountain

City of Fountain Press Release

Groundbreaking illustrates Fountain preparation for 5,000 new troops in 2009

Fountain races to meet demands of current residents and new troops’ families


Fountain is getting ready for the estimated 5,000 new troops expected to come in 2009. Studies have shown pent up demand for retail in the vastly underserved market of the Fountain Valley, so retailers are opening new stores.

“The Fountain valley is a market unto its own trade area,” says Lisa Cochrun, Fountain Economic Development Director. “People chose to live here because our small town atmosphere attracts them. We share two gates with Fort Carson; we expect retail to further boom as Fort Carson expands. It should be a highlight in an otherwise gloomy economy.”

Commute time analysis shows new troops are most likely to locate close to the post.
The Markets at Mesa Ridge has scheduled a groundbreaking with the Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells at 8:30AM August 13th on the site at Mesa Ridge Parkway (Powers Boulevard) and Fountain Mesa Road. Shops D tenants include Ent Federal Credit Union, Little Caesars Pizza and Papa Murphy’s Pizza. Construction should take approximately 6 months – project complete in February of 2009.
The Markets at Mesa Ridge, LLC is a joint venture between a California-based real estate investment company and members of the Janitell family. The development started in 2001 with the construction of Safeway and Shops A, and will include over 500,000 SF of commercial development when complete. Current national tenants open and operating include Safeway, Lowe's, Walgreens, Advance Auto, Sonic, Subway, Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, Carl’s Jr. ... (the list goes on). Future phases of development include two approximate 6,700-SF pad buildings with drive-thru access to junior-box buildings that will accommodate larger users ranging from 10,000 to over 50,000 SF.

The Markets at Mesa Ridge are just 5 minutes away from Interstate 25 and Fort Carson gate 20, which handles about a quarter of the post’s traffic.

“What our studies show is sustainable demand for electronics, clothing, casual sit-down name brand restaurants, recreation and amusement centers, medical services, sporting goods, hobby stores, a movie theatre… all the things families want close to home.”

At build out, the Fountain Valley will have a population of 217,460. Right now the valley’s population is around 96,000. New apartment buildings and housing developments are planned and the I-25 interchange and bridge at Exit 132 is going up in faster than expected.

The August 13th morning groundbreaking at the Markets at Mesa Ridge is just the beginning,” said Rich Walker of First Properties, broker for the shopping center.

Easy Street Designs Adds Birthday Cards to Business Marketing Tools Selection

Easy Street Designs recently added personalized birthday cards to their custom marketing products available online.

The 10 original designs are available in the Business Marketing Tools, Mortgage Marketing Tools and Real Estate Marketing Tools sections.

Ed Duffy of Easy Street says, "Our customers have reported that they get great response when they remember a client or customer on their birthday. They often get emails or phone calls thanking them for the card. We wanted to make Birthday cards that were both personalized and affordable. Your name and company are printed inside below the greeting, and there's plenty of room above for a hand-written message if you choose to add one."

Easy Street Designs, located in Fountain, Colorado offers a variety of custom printed marketing products both locally and nationwide.

Slapping the Hand That Feeds You

I had a conversation with a colleague from a more traditional paper today. She told me about an interview she had done with a company that provides security for schools. The company is looking to land a contract with an area school district.

She said that her editor would likely not run the story because she'd feel it was just a marketing pitch for the company. This illustrates an attitude among most print media publications that I just don't understand.

I'll focus on small regionals because that's what I'm most familiar with. Small businesses are the ones who keep the paper in existance. It's through their ad revenue that payroll is met, the rent gets paid, the electricity stays on, etc. Yet an editor would shun a story because it might be helpful to a business? I'm not going to name the paper or the editor because this attitude is actually the prevailing one among small newspaper editors. They're are loathe to do anything that might be construed as "free advertising".

In The South Side Business News, we're all about the blatant and unapologetic promotion of business, particularly the small business. IBM and Walmart get plenty of attention. We want to provide a spotlight for Fountain Valley Mechanical and The Sound Shop and the like. The fact that most papers wont do this actually provided me with my niche. We encourage area businesses to send us updates on their activities, products, employees, etc. Of course, the story still has to be interesting and they're run on a space available basis, but since we don't do community interest, politics, death, disease and mayhem, we make a lot of space available.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, this has not resulted in decreased interest in paid advertising. To the contrary. It turns out the public at large is really interested in the goings on of local shops and the people who own, run and work in them. There are hundreds of small businesses in the area and only a handful are going to have stories published in any given month. The demand for space still far exceeds the supply. The key, as always, it good content. All stories are edited as I see fit, and nobody gets to proof or approve them prior to publication.