Elevating a city.

• Author: Kinder, Peri
• Position: Sandy City

STAGNANT SANDY TRANSITIONS TO VIBRANT HUB

In the early 2000s, Sandy City was facing a turning point. Once a thriving city full of young, growing families, Sandy found itself with an aging population and a stagnant commercial center. The city could have resigned itself to becoming a sleepy suburb, but instead its leaders launched a strategic effort to play on the city's natural strengths.

While population growth had moved on to other areas of the county, Sandy still had many advantages, including proximity to both Salt Lake City and the booming north Utah County area, easy access to major transportation routes, and the natural amenities offered by the nearby canyons--including four world-class ski resorts.

Over the years, the city added a busy exposition center, a Major League Soccer stadium and new entertainment options. A pivotal moment for the city was its recruitment of retailer Scheels, which kick-started additional retail and commercial development. The arrival of Scheels is a prime example of how Sandy City's leaders have crafted a vision of what the city could be--and then, without wasting a moment, began taking real steps to make that vision a reality.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Stuart Thain first walked into a Scheels store 10 years ago. After talking with the knowledgeable employees and checking out the vast inventory, he was hooked--and he knew Scheels would be a perfect fit for the Salt Lake area.

Scheels offers an enormous selection of sportswear and sports equipment, with brand names like Under Armour, The North Face, Adidas and Nike. The stores themselves are also enormous, clocking in at around 220,000 square feet, and feature attractions like a giant saltwater aquarium, a Ferris wheel, and sports and hunting simulators.

Thain, executive vice president and partner at CBC Advisors, believed the store's focus on outdoor adventures and sports would pair well with Utah's renowned, four-season outdoor recreation opportunities. Thain started a dialogue with the company's president, Steve Scheel, that lasted nearly a decade, hoping to persuade him to bring the store to Utah.

"He told me no for the first five years," Thain says. "He was being offered huge incentives by competing cities. It took me about six years to get him out here and convince him this was a great market for his company. He finally came to the realization that this was the spot for them to build a Scheels store."

Karen Jones, store leader at the Sandy Scheels, was part...