Success Stories In Retail Recruitment



Dinuba Plugs Retail Leakage With Buxton’s Help
City leaders in Dinuba, Calif., were tired of the retail "leakage" plaguing their area. Year after year, they saw their 20,000 residents drive to nearby communities to shop and dine. In fact the shopping opportunities were so weak in the immediate area that Dinuba residents regularly trekked 30 minutes north to Fresno or south to Visalia.

Then Dinuba got its big break. The Wal-Mart Corporation was attempting to get permits to build a Super Wal-Mart in nearby Reedley. But residents of that community voted against the super retailer. Dinuba leaders saw their chance to secure much-needed retail to their community, and Wal-Mart opened its doors to a welcoming Dinuba in August 2005.

But Dinuba planners realized that one Wal-Mart is not sufficient to meet the retail needs of residents. So, the Chamber of Commerce contracted with Buxton to perform the popular and effective CommunityID^® assessment. Buxton assessed a particular site based on typical drive times and found that the Dinuba trade area encompassed not only the 20,000 city residents, but also another 65,000 residents within a short driving distance.

Armed with this accurate trade area information, Dinuba leaders set out to tell the retailing world the good news. They contacted retailers directly, and they attended the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) annual trade show in Las Vegas, Nev.

The result is a lot of exposure for the community and several retail successes including an Applebee’s, a Carl’s Jr. and a Holiday Inn Express. "Retailers are starting to call us. We get two to three calls a week," says Dan Meinert, deputy city manager, City of Dinuba.

Dinuba didn’t stop at CommunityID numbers. They commissioned an AutoID assessment from Buxton, and they have since landed a Ford Dealership. And, another big auto dealership may soon be locating to the city.

"We’ve been able to use Buxton’s data to help us develop as a secondary retail market," Meinert says. "As a result, our sales tax revenue has gone up considerably."

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