Atlanta city officials hoping to attract retailers

Atlanta recently had a big name business move in, and now city officials are hoping to capitalize on that momentum.

“So recently we’ve seen some new growth in Atlanta.” says Miranda Johnson, Executive Director of the Atlanta City Development Corporation. “We had a Starbucks come in, which is one of the reasons why we thought now might be a good time to recruit some additional retail and kind of ride that wave of new development.”

So city officials sought out the help of consulting firm Retail Strategies and took part in one of their specialized academies in Fort Worth.

We looked at mobile data collection to figure out what we call a customized trade area.” says Madeline Farr, Director of Retail Academy with Retail Strategies, “So outside of just the, you know, 5300 people that live in Atlanta, we drew it. We looked at the trade area which is a lot larger. Almost 35,000 people are actually going to Atlanta to get their goods and services.”

“Some of those top categories of leakage were quick service restaurants. So, you know, people eating at restaurants that are not in Atlanta and, and getting that elsewhere.” says Farr.

They are focusing on high traffic real estate centered around a Walmart on Highway 59. As well as vacancies in their historic downtown district.

“It’s a little too early to name anybody, but we are going to cast that line and see what we may be able to fish in.” says Johnson.

One of their next steps will be attending trade shows to speak with new potential retailers.

About Retail Strategies

Retail Strategies is the national expert in community development and retail economic development. Our mission is to provide the real estate expertise, tools, and human effort that position deserving towns as alluring locations for national businesses and destinations for tourism and quality-of-life amenities. We confidently pursue this mission by delivering unparalleled customer service as a unified team with unmatched real estate and community development expertise. Our activities pay a return in sales taxes, added jobs, and businesses that enhance and add to the unique qualities of your community.