Developers who own the Centerplace shopping center plan to add Best Buy and Sports Authority to the development in time for next year's holiday shopping season.

The site also will include a health club and other retail stores.

On Tuesday, city staffers presented Centerplace developer Regency Centers' plan for the site to the Greeley Planning Commission. The commission will discuss final approval Oct. 9.

The two new big-box retailers are planned to be at an undeveloped site east of Target and Kohl's at the center at 47th Avenue and U.S. 34 Bypass.

Sarah MacQuiddy, president of the Greeley/Weld Chamber of Commerce, said Greeley is being recognized by national retailers as a good place to do business.

"I think that speaks highly of Greeley," MacQuiddy said. "It's an excellent retail recruitment."

MacQuiddy added that although Best Buy already has a store in the nearby Promenade Shops at Centerra, Greeley's growth probably made it an attractive place to add a store, and that she believes there is demand for this store.

Moreover, Greeley shoppers prefer to shop at stores in Greeley, she said.

"Retail shoppers are pretty loyal to Greeley retail," MacQuiddy said. "They prefer to keep those dollars close by. They can afford to build their properties that close together."

MacQuiddy said Greeley stores even attract shoppers from all of northeast Colorado and from Nebraska's panhandle.

Kelly Peters, Greeley's economic development manager, said that while the plans haven't been finalized and developers haven't applied for building permits yet, if Best Buy decides to come to Greeley, it will fill a hole in the electronics retail market.

"A lot of people are having to go to Loveland or north Denver," Peters said. "If Best Buy ends up coming in, that's fantastic news."

Sales tax "leakage" -- money Greeley residents spend at stores in other communities -- may be lessened if these stores move in, Peters said.

"We want to stop that leakage," Peters said. "It'd really be a great thing for us on this side of the interstate."

Gart Sports and Sports Authority merged in 2003, creating the nation's largest sporting goods company. After the merger, the Sports Authority closed the Gart Sports store in the Greeley Mall in early 2005.

David Bragg, project manager for Regency Centers, which owns the site, said in May that if all goes to plan, shoppers will see new additions to Centerplace just in time for the holiday shopping season next year. Bragg did not name the stores in May and didn't return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.