Prince George's presents a relatively rare dynamic for retailers: a concentrated community of wealthy blacks. The county's population is 63 percent black, and its median household income is $55,256, according to the 2000 Census. Among more than 3,000 counties, that ranks 120th in the nation.
But it has had little success attracting high-end retail. The issue has become a persistent sore point for residents and businesses, who have initiated letter-writing campaigns and launched Web sites to cajole favored franchises to take the county seriously.
When it comes to department stores, for example, Prince George's County trails far behind the rest of the region. It has 1.97 square feet of department store space per household, compared with 4.7 in Anne Arundel, 5.1 in Montgomery and 5.2 in Howard, according to a report prepared by McComb Group Ltd., a retail consulting firm.
And while all three of those neighboring counties have upscale department stores such as Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor, Prince George's has only Hecht's. As a result, nearly a quarter of county residents shopped at department stores outside of Prince George's in 2004, according to Scarborough Research, which studies shopping patterns.
The bulk of the county's retail consists of community shopping centers built decades ago and filled with grocery stores, take-out restaurants, dollar stores and discounters.
"We have no problem attracting the big boxes," Johnson said, referring to the proliferation of Home Depot and Target stores in the county.
The same can be said for mid-priced restaurants. A handful of new family restaurants have opened in the county in the past year, including Red Star Tavern and Ruby Tuesday's, but what the county wants is pricier fare, such as Chinese restaurant P. F. Chang's, seafood chain McCormick & Schmick's and steakhouse Ruth's Chris.
Often, county residents have simplified the reason retailers have ignored Prince George's to one issue: race. In demographic studies and presentations, county officials have argued its income, educational attainment and housing stock merit better shopping options.
As he strolled a convention floor where he was one of the few black people, Johnson called race "the unstated issue" in Prince George's quest for retail.
Retail brokers and developers say the problem is more complex.
Peter Framson, principal of Green Light Retail, a Bethesda-based retail brokerage, said retailers are eager to build in the county's better-off communities -- notably Bowie and Laurel -- but are stymied by a shortage of commercially zoned land. As for the rest of the county, high-end retailers "do not want to go there for one reason -- demographics. Not enough people making enough money," he said.
Race, he said, "is just not an issue."
