By Stephanie Guzman, Reporter for Albuquerque Business First:

A company’s decision to enter the Albuquerque market isn’t just based on residents who want the store or even demographics, but also distribution.

A company's distribution model is what allows the retailer to bring product to its stores, from major distribution hubs to states like New Mexico. For distribution purposes, it makes sense for a company to have multiple locations throughout one area.

Albuquerque is a unique market because while we have a relatively small population — less than 1 million people in the metro area — that population is also spread out. Those attributes make it hard for a new retailer to enter the market with multiple stores.

“We all talk about demographics and it is not just population, but in what proximity that population dwells,” said Lia Armstrong, a retail broker with CBRE Albuquerque. “For example, a large format retailer will look at a city like Denver that has a large population, and higher spending power, with competitive lease rates given the competition of more available boxes, and see that they can go into that market and do multiple stores and make sense of their distribution patterns.”

"They don’t freeze their meat. It’s all fresh so they have to have a meat facility that’s very close. That’s the number one reason we don’t have an In-N-Out," Johnson said.

It's even harder for higher-end retail and restaurant brands to open multiple locations in Albuquerque, said Bob Feinberg, a retail expert and senior vice president with Colliers International.

"A lot of cities this size have two lifestyle centers. Every single high-end player that needs to be here is in ABQ Uptown," Feinberg said. Click here to read the entire article.