The City of Fulton is seeking ways to expand its retail and business appeal to a larger consumer demographic. At a July 20 public meeting held at Fulton City Hall, Matthew Petro, Retail Strategies' director of business development, presented the company to Mayor LeRoy Benton as a potential partner in devising a retail recruitment strategy.
"This is a partnership, not a transaction," Petro said.
Petro discussed the market research and analytics that Retail Strategies offers to communities, which focuses on identifying retail trade areas that would generate the greatest opportunity for success. The research and analysis includes basic demographic reports, psychographic analysis, gap analysis focusing on "retail gaps" and retail peer analysis.
"We look at similar communities to you based upon demographic and consumer expenditure to identify those communities through peers," Petro said. "We go into those peer communities and say that you have these five retailers that aren't here but want to be here. So what better way to go at this with realistic opportunities - we know from day one that retailer likes this type of market yet they aren't here."
A concern about Columbia attracting consumers from Fulton was raised by city officials as Petro answered questions after the presentation.
"While there's things in Columbia that may never be attractive here (Fulton), there are certainly restaurants and stores in Columbia that could have a second location here and be profitable, and get sure traffic more frequently than just one day a week you want to drive 30 minutes to Columbia," Petro said.
Petro said the ultimate goal is not to deter or stop Fulton consumers from shopping in Columbia.
"What we want to do is keep people here in Fulton where and when we can," Petro said.
Petro also addressed another attendee's concern about how a prospective partnership would affect local businesses. He said the potential retail consulting team from Retail Strategies is committed to working with local entrepreneurs accomplish their goals, just as much as national corporations.
"We will assist the local entrepreneurs as much as we would any national tenant," Petro said. "We believe strongly the best communities, the best markets, have a mix of regional and national retail. You have to have all three to survive. However, the national does breed local opportunities."
Petro asked for a three-year contract, stating the majority of success Retail Strategies has had in other communities has been achieved between 18 and 30 months of the initial signing.
"We don't want to be your partner for three years - we want to be your partner for 30 years," Petro said. "We want to have so much success here that within your sales tax receipts, we've paid for ourselves 10 times over."
Petro gave a similar presentation at the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen meeting a few hours after presenting at Fulton City Hall. Both cities are considering a partnership with Retail Strategies.