The Crossville city council heard from
three firms that provide consulting work on recruiting nation retail
chains during a work session May 26.
The city has discussed this possibility
before but has not yet taken the plunge to work with the firms that
provide data on the community, the gaps in retail available here and
the so-called “out leakage” of spending to other area shopping
locations. The three firms that spoke to the council included Retail
Strategies, R360 and Buxton. All three companies pitched their
services to the city with the idea that they could help increase
sales tax collections by recruiting large retail stores and
restaurant chains.
Brook Holbert, right, of Retail Strategies speaks to Crossville city council. Also pictured left to right are Pam Harris, Pete Souza, Billy Loggins and Mayor James Mayberry.
The kind of data that the firms
aggregate and interpret include trade areas such as where shoppers
come from, types of consumers and how ans where consumers spend their
money. The data can help to show how Crossville compares with other
communities and that comparison can be used to look at similar
communities and the retail operations that they support. This allows
the city to approach the retailers that are not in Crossville but in
similar locations and to encourage them to also locate at Crossville.
Two of the firms offer their services
for $90,000 to $110,000 over three years of consulting. The larger
Buxton firm's proposal totals $160,000. Buxton is one of the top
firms in the business and has an exclusive agreement with VISA card
to access data on purchases to help with their research.
One other interesting aspect of the
research that each firm discussed was the tracking of cell phones to
determine how many shop in a particular store in Crossville and where
they come from. This tracking of the number of cell phones within a
specific area was a part of the research planned by the firms.
Following the presentations, the
council members will consider the information and determine if such a
project will be included in the city's upcoming budget.
