[March 04, 2009] Recession? What recession?: The Crossings is growing despite economic downturn Tweet Mar 04, 2009 (The Decatur Daily - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Crossings of Decatur is an oasis in the national economic desert. While retail development elsewhere slumps, buildings keep rising from the dirt at the Target-anchored shopping center at Alabama 67 and U.S. 31. "It's evidently the hot place to be," said Regions Bank spokeswoman Georgia Hendricks. Regions Bank Regions has a branch under construction at The Crossings, with a planned May 11 opening date. The branch will replace two smaller branches on Sixth Avenue Southeast. "We just didn't have room for our customers," Hendricks said. The new office will employ 15 and have a $70 million deposit base. "It absolutely says a lot about our confidence in Decatur," Hendricks said. "We're very conservative. If we thought it was not a good move, we would have stayed with the two small branches." Regions joins recently opened Bank Independent at The Crossings. Bank Independent The Sheffield-based bank, which recently acquired The Citizens Bank of Moulton, opened at The Crossings on Dec. 15. Macke B. Mauldin, president of Bank Independent, said his bank has done well at its new location, national economy notwithstanding. "My experience, in these seven counties in North Alabama where Bank Independent operates, is we are doing phenomenally well as a whole community. If you compare us to almost any region in the country, you will not find seven contiguous counties doing as well." That's not to say that business is great, but it could be worse. "We may not be doing as well as we want to do, but we're doing better than almost any community in the nation," Mauldin said. Many factors have helped, but the two Mauldin mentions first are federal dollars and a history of steady -- not reckless -- growth. "No. 1 is (Base Realignment and Closure). BRAC is for real. BRAC is substantial. BRAC is coming," Mauldin said. "We've had some overbuilt segments in our economy, but a substantial portion of BRAC has yet to be realized." The influx of federal, largely recession-proof, wages will benefit not just Huntsville, but all of North Alabama, Mauldin said. "The other thing is that we as a community did not share in the excesses of the early part of this decade," Mauldin said. "We didn't have the build-up in the housing market or the irrational exuberance in retail. Decatur in particular has had good, solid, steady growth. Nothing exceptional, but solid." AT&T Also dialing in at The Crossings is an AT&T retail store. The 3,500-square-foot store is a new concept for the company. If AT&T sells it, the store will carry it -- complete with dem-os and lots of customer service. AT&T spokeswoman Sue Sperry said, "if everything goes perfectly," the store should open the week of March 30. The smaller store on Beltline Road Southwest will close when the new store opens. "The new Decatur store represents a new experience in retail," Sperry said. "Traditional wireless stores are small and compact. This is a full-experience store. Anything that AT&T offers, we will demo and sell there." The store's emphasis is to let people experience products and services before they buy them. "People can interact with the devices. They can try out software," Sperry said. "It's just a better customer experience, so people can see, touch and feel everything that AT&T has." AT&T's expansion in the midst of a recession reflects the direction of consumers' core demands, Sperry believes. People are looking for places to cut back, but they want their mobile phones, they want Internet and they want television. AT&T is positioning itself to meet those demands. "It's an unusual time to be opening a store, but this interactive concept has been very successful for us," Sperry said. Fulin's Another late addition to The Crossings is Fulin's Asian Cuisine. Business has been brisk since it opened in November, but it got even better when the restaurant obtained its liquor license last month. "Everything's perfect," said General Manager Tina Chen. "We have a great location, and I love Decatur." At The Crossings The Crossings of Decatur keeps growing. Retailers with a presence at the shopping center at U.S. 67 and U.S. 31: --Target. --Panera Bread Co. --Nails First. --Head Start Haircare. --Fulin's Asian Cuisine. --Five Guys Burgers & Fries. --Lifeway Christian Store. --Bank Independent. --rue 21. --Rack Room Shoes. --Ross Dress for Less. --Old Navy. --Rainbow (women's clothing). --PetSmart. --Hibbett Sports. --Regions Bank (coming). --AT&T (coming). ERIC FLEISCHAUER To see more of The Decatur Daily, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.decaturdaily.com Copyright (c) 2009, The Decatur Daily, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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