He's not alone. Residents in that part of the Las Vegas Valley -- generally the area north of Sahara Avenue and east of downtown Las Vegas -- have seen little retail development in recent years as the rest of the valley has been booming.

Few retailers would comment on why they chose one area over another, but the consensus among industry professionals is the area's lack of high-income residents is to blame for the lack of development.

Kohl's Department Stores, which opened three Las Vegas-area locations last fall, focused on the northwest, west and southeast. Since entering the market in October 2001, CVS pharmacy has opened 14 stores around the Las Vegas Valley -- but only one in the northeast.

Joe Lamarca, chief executive of Euphoria Salons & Day Spas, has 15 locations throughout the valley, including his latest salon that opens Monday at Stephanie Street and Sunset Road in Henderson, but none in the northeast.

"Our prices are not comparable to Super Cuts or other salons like that," he said. "We only locate where income matches prices."

In Summerlin and Henderson, areas popular with local and national retailers, median household income levels reach almost $60,000 -- compared to the $32,600 in the northeast, according to research firm Applied Analysis.

It is that lower income that keeps retailers, and ultimately other commercial development such as office space, out of the northeast, John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting said.

"From a retail standpoint, they take the path of least resistance," he said. "They go where the income is high enough to support stores, such as Green Valley, the northwest, Summerlin and the southwest."

It is not just retail that ignores the northeast area.

Few office projects have been built recently in the area and while the industrial and distribution sectors have been a bright spot, little new development is taking place.

Applied Analysis is tracking just three commercial developments under construction in northeast Las Vegas -- two industrial projects (totaling 24,000 square feet) and one 16,000-square-foot office building.

"Some of the underperforming submarkets do not see as much development year-over-year," Brian Gordon, a principal of Applied Analysis, said. "The office market has shied away from the northeast part of the valley. One of the reasons is the accessibility and proximity to other services."

There are numerous factors that are behind the area's slow growth, said Kenny Young, redevelopment manager for the city of North Las Vegas' redevelopment agency. Much of North Las Vegas is in the northeast part of the valley.

"If a private developer wants to come into Las Vegas, they go where the households are that have the higher incomes, because all other costs are the same," he said.

But developing in an older area can often have challenges -- which can mean more out-of-pocket costs for the developer in the end.

"There could be environmental challenges or an existing building that needs to be torn down," Young said. "It's often easier to develop with raw land."

Developer Arnold Stalk has been trying for three years to get a Hispanic-themed retail center up and running on a vacant piece of land at Las Vegas Boulevard North at Belmont Avenue. After announcing the El Centro De Las Vegas shopping center last May with much fanfare, he has yet to break ground on the project.

The El Centro De Las Vegas project is still moving forward, but financing still needs to be straightened out before North Las Vegas comes up with a final redevelopment agreement, Young said.

"These things take time, especially in the redevelopment process," Stalk said. "The easy thing to do is to plop a 7-Eleven or check cashing service up there. It is a risk (for retailers to go there), it's not a sure shot."

And if it's one thing retailers don't like, it's risk.

"It is more challenging if it is infill or redevelopment, especially in an area that is more blue collarish," Restrepo said. "Stores that do go there -- Target, Wal-Mart -- do pretty well. But it's not as sexy (an area) from a retail standpoint."

Restrepo said as land prices continue to rise in all areas of town, especially in the most popular locations, developers might start looking to older, less prominent areas like the northeast.

"We are at a crossroads. We don't quite know yet if infill is going to be prominent here, but there are all the signs that it will be because of the costs of the newer areas of the valley," he said. "It's always hard to find that pioneering guy to look at a diamond in the rough, so to speak."

Not all retailers have ignored the area.

Anna's Linens, a "value-conscious" home store that sells linens and other home items, has two out of its five valley stores in the northeast.

Timbers Hospitality Group is opening its 10th Las Vegas-area location in northeast Las Vegas next month. Andrew Donner, president of Timbers Hospitality Group, said he expects the restaurant/tavern, located on Lake Mead Boulevard between Nellis and Hollywood boulevards, to be one of his most successful locations.

"There is a lack of quality restaurants out there," Donner said.

Donner said he received many requests from people that live in the area to open a restaurant. He said it just took the right piece of land for the deal to make sense.

The restaurant also includes boat parking in the back to cater to boaters as they travel to and from Lake Mead, Donner said.

Donner said he already is scoping out a couple other locations in northeast Las Vegas, but declined to say exactly where he is looking.

While residents may say otherwise, many industry analysts said the lack of a beltway and Nellis Air Force Base are reasons the area has lagged behind other parts of the valley.

Young said despite a beltway, the area does have access to I-15 and he points out that in other areas of town residents have to drive 15 minutes or more to reach any freeway.

He also said the base actually helps because many people who work there live in the area.

But the base also has restricted growth.

Nellis Air Force officials have fought against, and in some cases won, plans to expand residential and business development in northeast Las Vegas.

Despite some victories, housing does continue to go up in the northeast.

Hollywood Boulevard and surrounding streets have been the sites of numerous upscale housing developments.

The area also lends itself to communities that are more reasonably priced than other areas of the valley. Small builders have bought up infill lots in the northeast and advertise new homes starting at $100,000 -- at a time when the median price for a new home is more than $200,000.

Large national builder Richmond American Homes has five of its 17 area communities in northeast Las Vegas, and sells houses from under $100,000 to just under $200,000. That compares to a price range of $170,000 to more than $380,000 in its other developments valley wide.

Richmond American officials declined to be interviewed, but Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc., said the northeast has always been a more affordable housing market because builders can buy land slightly cheaper than other popular submarkets.

But much of the land in the northeast is in smaller tracts, rather than the large master-planned communities like those in Summerlin and Green Valley.

"Major retail chains gravitate toward large housing developments," Gordon, with Applied Analysis, said. "We see that a lot in the northwest and Green Valley area, but we are not seeing the big 40- and 80-acre parcels (in northeast Las Vegas) any more that allow for that cohesive development."

Young, with the city, said developers shouldn't write off the area just because of its lack of master-planned communities and its lower household income.

"One thing developers ignore is density. Most of the older areas exceed some of the newer areas, and there is a lot of buying power that is just not being tapped into," he said.

The northeast has more than 105,800 housing units, while Henderson has more than 84,300 housing units and west and northwest Las Vegas have just more than 62,000 housing units, Applied Analysis reported.

Lamarca, chief executive of Euphoria, said higher density levels aren't enough.

"There are some beautiful areas over there, but there is not the density of income earners in that area," he said. "I can't just depend on 1,000 people who earn above $80,000 a year."

But Donner said developers shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the area.

"The density of houses in the northeast is incredible and it goes on forever and it continues to grow and there aren't many services out there," he said. "People looking at northwest Las Vegas or Henderson, I bet they'd get more bang for their buck in the northeast because they have a captive market."

One other thing that developers will have to cope with is that northeast residents aren't exactly out clamoring for development.

"Everything is close enough as it is right now," said Richardson, who also works in the northeast part of the valley. "Anything that is necessary is nearby, we have plenty of doctors, commercial and retail."