Has your community toyed with the idea of hiring a retail recruitment consultant? Below are ten signs that it’s time for your city to make the leap:
1. Your community’s retail growth is stagnant.
It can be discouraging when your once promising retail momentum begins to slow. Though you had no problem recruiting retailers in the past, your city is now being passed up on big deals. This shift could be due to a number of factors, so how do you know what changes need to be made? Perhaps it’s time to chat with a consultant to identify the problem and help your retail recruitment strategy get back on track.
2. Major retailers move out of your city.
Have major retailers moved out of your city’s trade area? The departure of just one or two key retailers can greatly impact the overall health of your community. If this is your city’s story, it may be time to implement a retail recruitment and retention strategy. Enlisting the help of a retail recruitment consultant can prove to be very beneficial in gaining back retailers to keep your economic conditions afloat.
3. You’re not getting anywhere with retailers.
Sometimes retail recruitment is just hard. Try as you might, you often need more than will power and a plan to get the ball rolling with retailers—you need analytics. Consider meeting with analytic experts who have the tools and knowledge to help your community make its mark with retailers.
4. Your retail recruitment strategy is unclear and without direction.
It can be tempting to recruit every retailer you come across, but this type of an approach is time consuming and often unproductive. Meet with a retail recruitment consultant to help you craft an educated and competitive economic development plan.
5. Your city’s population has declined.
Have you noticed a sharp decrease in your city’s population? A less-than-thriving population could be due to residents seeking quality of life factors—such as shopping and dining options—elsewhere. If this is your city’s issue, seeking guidance from a retail recruitment consultant would likely be worth the financial investment.
6. Your city’s population has increased.
On the flip side, perhaps your population has seen a sharp increase in recent years. Though this is a good problem to have, your city may need to adjust its retail mix to meet the current needs. But, understanding the best retailers for the community—especially one that has seen significant change—can be challenging. Talk to a retail recruitment consultant to gain a better understanding of the retailers your city needs to continue its growth.
7. You’re not sure how to land a deal.
Perhaps you’ve had some promising conversations with potential retailers, but you’re not sure how to land the deal. Retail recruitment consultants can give you the insights needed to convince retailers to locate in your community.
8. You’re hoping to build off of the momentum from other retail openings.
You’ve landed a few deals—now what? It’s time to build off of that momentum and recruit more retailers to your community. The key, however, is that they need to be the right retailers for your city. After all, quality is always better than quantity. To ensure you’re recruiting retailers that will be most beneficial to your city’s residents and overall economic development, talk to a consultant. They will lead you toward the right retailers to capitalize on your growth.
9. Help local entrepreneurs identify new business growth opportunities.
Entrepreneurs often seek out new business opportunities in their local market. These individuals aren’t necessarily sold on opening a certain type of business; rather, they simply want to open a profitable location that will be well-received by residents. Communities can support their local entrepreneurs by identifying retail holes in the city through the use of analytics. Meet with a retail recruitment consultant to begin this process.
10. You’re losing retailers to other cities.
Let’s face it: retail recruitment is competitive. In fact, for every ten sites that a site selector evaluates, they select one to be the final location. How do you make sure your community is the obvious choice in the site selection competition? You must present convincing analytics. Invest in a retail recruitment consultant who has the analytic expertise to help your community come out on top.
Related: Selecting a Retail Site Selection Consultant
It’s time for your community to enlist the help of a retail recruitment consultant. Buxton has the answers to your most challenging retail recruitment issues.
