Plenty of evidence is mounting of a major increase of retailers opening throughout Cherokee County.

Construction, grand opening events and help wanted signs are easy-to-spot proof of a growing commercial market in a county known as a bedroom community. New strip shopping centers are under construction alongside centers that opened within the past few years. Specialty shops for various interests have opened near some of the county’s newest communities. A frequent diner can try many varieties of dishes in the county’s expanded local restaurant market.

Not only is the retail boom apparent in the county’s two largest cities of Woodstock and Canton, but new stores are also opening in unincorporated areas of the county, including along state highways and at former country crossroads.

Chris McCurry knows about retail grand opening celebrations. He is the developer of RiverStone Village, a 21-acre commercial center at the intersection of Riverstone Boulevard and Reinhardt College Parkway in Canton’s Riverstone district.

Jocks & Jills Sports Grill opened last weekend in RiverStone Village. Other new eateries in the complex include Hanami Steakhouse, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Shane’s Rib Shack.

Also newly open in RiverStone Village is Crescent Bank’s Cherokee County headquarters. Retailers and offices also locating in the center include Woodstock Furniture Outlet, the law firm of Roach, Geiger & Caudill and Jey Willis State Farm Insurance.

Riverstone, which began in 1998 with the opening of Riverstone Plaza, is a 568-acre project slated for build-out in about 10 years, according to plans under review by the Atlanta Regional Commission submitted by the city as its final phase.

McCurry, who said he plans future developments in the area, said Matt Sasser of Bright-Sasser Canton LLC deserves credit for planning Riverstone as an easy to reach location suitable for a variety of businesses.

“Riverstone is an excellent development,” McCurry said.

Pam Carnes, president and CEO of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce said the county is gaining several types of retailers. “It’s countywide,” Carnes said of the retail growth.

The membership listing of the Chamber shows many new retailers, Carnes said.

As of Oct. 13, 212 new members joined the organization this year, a level surpassing the 200 or so that is typical by the end of the year, Carnes said. The majority of new members are retailers, she added.

New shops and restaurants have opened in areas that previously had only a few businesses, such as an anchor grocery store and a few franchises and independent stores. In addition to Riverstone, booming locations include Ga. 92 in Woodstock, the Hickory Flat’s Ga. 140/East Cherokee Drive intersection and South Canton.

Sales tax data also suggest a retail boom.

The county collected $23.6 million in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) during the nine-month period of January through September.

The one-percent sales tax proceeds, which are delivered to the state two months after the monthly sales periods, show sales level in the county under SPLOST is on target to exceed $30 million in 2006 – a pace that would reflect $3 billion of annual sales.

The money is churning through the county at retailers large and small. New developments are planned.

A retail project, including the third Home Depot in Cherokee County, is planned for a 39-acre site in Holly Springs at Interstate 575 and Sixes Road. Home Depots are also in Woodstock and Canton.

Construction for the home improvement store is expected to begin in late 2006 or early 2007, said Brantley Day, Holly Springs city planner. Along with the approximately 135,000-square-foot home improvement retailer, a 70,000 square-foot shopping center and four out parcels are planned for the site. Plans call for Northside Hospital-Cherokee to use 7 acres for a 70,000 square-foot medical office building, Day said.

Major projects planned for Canton include two competing open-air malls.

The Sembler Company’s Canton Marketplace, a $200-million, 800,000-square-foot shopping center near the Interstate 575/Ga. 20 interchange is slated to open in 2008, said Amber Overby, spokeswoman for the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based developer. Northside Hospital-Cherokee officials announced plans to buy land in the 400-acre development.

Although Target, Kohl’s, Best Buy and other retailers have been mentioned as possible Canton Marketplace tenants, none have been signed, Overby said. “There’s a lot of leasing activity going on,” she said.

“Canton is a thriving market and our project is representative of the growth out here,” said Sembler President of Development Jeff Fuqua.

CBL & Associates Properties Inc. plans to develop the 65-acre Gateway at Riverstone, an open-air shopping center on the site fronting Reinhardt College Parkway and Riverstone Boulevard. The opening of the center is scheduled for 2008, according to the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based shopping center developer.