ST. GEORGE, Utah-While St. George continues to successfully attract commercial development as its growth ensues, grocery stores are reticent to expand in the Washington County seat until more exponential growth occurs.

Travis Parry, the partner and principal broker of St. George-based Linx Commercial Real Estate said that the Southern Block, the area around Exit 2 off of Interstate 15, may continue to struggle financially as grocery stores want more growth in this area before committing.

Otherwise, other commercial sectors are interested in coming into this area, Parry confirmed.

Parry said grocery store chains often count the number of rooftops in any given geographical area divided by the number of existing grocery stores to figure out if there is sufficient room in the market to expand.

Other businesses use such parameters as well.

Calabasas, Calif.-based The Cheesecake Factory has said they require a population of 250,000 before they move into an area.

Presently, Washington County consists of 178,000 residents living within a 2,430-square mile radius.

As of the 2020 census, St. George is home to 92,828 Washington County residents, or roughly 52.2 percent of the total population in the southern Utah county.

Monravia, Calif.-based Trader Joe’s has similar standards and it may yet be decades before St. George can secure the services of this grocery store chain featuring diverse foods from around the world within its borders.

Residents of the Southern Block have expressed concern on these points, saying it is difficult to take 20 minutes of time into downtown St. George to do their grocery shopping.