Retailers Struggle to Find Growth Opportunities
- By Bill Shelton, CEcD

This quote is from a recently released report by the National Retail Federation entitled "2007 Real Estate Lifecycles: Trends and Analysis." The full quote states, "Retailers struggle to find growth opportunities in a clearly hyper-competitive environment."

The report is based on a survey of 43 retail executives that gauges how real estate assets are managed to achieve revenue goals. While the report was primarily designed for retail real estate executives, it also contains insights into retail location procedures that can be valuable to communities seeking to grow their retail base.

One of the more interesting findings of the survey is the answer to the question, "How many sites do you screen for every site selected?" The answer: An average of 10 sites.

Why are nine sites rejected for every one selected? And why is it a struggle to find retail locations that "position stores in the marketplace to capture all available traffic while minimizing the cannibalization from existing locations"? Answers to these two questions should be of interest to community leaders; unfortunately the report only tersely mentions the causes for rejection and provides scant details. ...

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Taking a Proactive Role in Retail Development

Following is a link to the monthly newsletter the City of Clemson, SC publishes for those interested in retail development in their city. Clemson is a great example of how cities are taking pro-active roles in retail development today, and thinking of new methods to generate excitement about the retail opportunities in their trade areas. Enjoy!

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