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Shreveport wants to lure more retailers. Here’s how they plan to do it.
The city of Shreveport is getting some outside help to lure new retail and restaurant businesses. They have retained Birmingham, Alabama-based Retail Strategies for assistance.
Courtney Hall, Retail Strategies’ Chief Marketing Officer, says data they are gathering will guide their advice.
“Here are the consumers in your community. Here’s what they’re buying, here’s how they’re shopping and dining. And from that, we give them [Shreveport] a list of retailers and restaurants that would be a good fit for the city that aren’t currently operating there.”
Bill Sabo, Shreveport’s head of economic development, says numbers are everything in determining which business pitches are realistic and viable.
Hall agrees, says certain businesses may not be looking for a market like Shreveport because of the wrong population density or disposable income. Sabo says he dealt with that while trying to help land a Trader Joe’s in New Orleans.
“When I was in New Orleans, that’s all they talked about,” says Sabo. “There was one in Metairie. It took five years to get a Trade Joe’s. It just opened in New Orleans, and it was done not by the city, but by a real estate developer.
Once city leaders and economic developers are brief on the data, Hall says her company will provide a retail recruitment strategy as well as tips on how to talk to retailers or brokers.
“Here’s how you speak to a retailer, here’s how you speak to a broker, here’s how you speak to a developer, because they’re different, you know, they’re different stakeholders in the retail recruitment process.”
Sabo says it will be up to the city to determine what the business needs to make a decision to locate in Shreveport.
“I was in sales for a number of years, and you need to find out what they’re looking for and then convince them that’s what you have. You just don’t go in and say, ‘Oh, we’re the best and we’re the biggest, and we have this.’ They don’t care. They have a problem. And you have to be able to show that you can solve that problem.”
Sabo is one of the city representatives that will be going to Birmingham in October for Retail Strategies’ Retail Academy program training. The training will be custom based on Shreveport’s priorities, be it helping out a mall or driving more retail into certain neighborhoods. It will also look at the viability of public-private partnerships.
The city will leave with a list of retailers that are a “good fit” for the Shreveport market.
“These are expanding retail and restaurant brands that aren’t currently in your market, that are a good fit based on your demographics and how people live their lives and spend their money. And they are already spending their money with XYZ retailer, they’re just having to drive out of Shreveport to do it,” says Hall.
“Retailers don’t always want to be the first in the market,” she said, “but success breeds success.”
Read the full story from The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate.
About Retail Academy
Retail Academy is a program developed from the leading national retail advisory firm, Retail Strategies. The program assists communities in strengthening their retail landscape. Communities will be trained and equipped with the tools and education necessary to attract new retailers to their markets, while providing support to their existing local businesses.
