A Long-Term Partnership That Helps Communities Navigate the Gray Areas
For many economic development professionals, retail recruitment can feel overwhelming.
The industry is filled with retailers, brokers, developers, property owners, franchise groups, contractors, and real estate professionals—all operating on different timelines with different priorities. Knowing where to focus your limited time and resources is often just as important as knowing which retailers to pursue.
That is why long-term partnerships matter.
For nearly a decade, Jim Zaleski, Economic Development Director for the City of Parsons, Kansas, has worked alongside Retail Strategies to help guide his community’s retail growth efforts. His experience offers an important lesson for economic development leaders: successful retail recruitment is rarely about a single project or ribbon cutting.
It is about having a trusted partner who helps you make better decisions over time.
Retail Recruitment Is More Complex Than It Appears
Industry events such as ICSC Las Vegas can create tremendous opportunities for communities. However, for many local economic development professionals, the retail real estate ecosystem can be difficult to navigate.
According to Zaleski, attending these events without experienced guidance can quickly become overwhelming.
“You’ve got retailers, property owners, contractors, construction firms, and corporate decision-makers all operating in the same space,” he explains.
Understanding who matters, when to engage them, and how to move conversations forward requires industry knowledge that many communities simply do not have in-house.
This challenge is especially common among smaller communities where economic development teams are often responsible for multiple functions beyond retail recruitment. As a result, local leaders need more than data and reports. They need practical guidance and real-world expertise.
An Extension of Your Economic Development Team
One of the most valuable aspects of a retail recruitment partnership is access to experienced professionals who become an extension of your staff.
Rather than navigating retailer relationships, site selection criteria, and industry events alone, communities gain a team that can help answer questions, evaluate opportunities, and provide strategic direction.
As Zaleski describes it, working with Retail Strategies feels like “having somebody working in the office with you without that price tag.”
That support becomes particularly important when communities are evaluating competing opportunities, responding to retailer interest, or determining how to allocate limited economic development resources.
For many economic development directors, simply having someone to call and discuss ideas with can help avoid costly mistakes and missed opportunities.
The Most Important Decisions Are Often Made in the Gray Areas
One of the most overlooked realities of retail recruitment is that success cannot always be measured by a simple yes-or-no outcome.
Economic development leaders are frequently asked questions such as:
- Did a retailer commit to the market?
- Did a deal get signed?
- Did a new store open?
While those outcomes matter, they represent only part of the process.
The real challenge often lies in evaluating opportunities before they become deals. Communities must determine where to invest their time, which prospects fit their market, and when it may be better to walk away from an opportunity altogether.
Zaleski believes this is where the value of partnership becomes most apparent.
“We live in a lot of gray,” he says.
A strong retail recruitment strategy helps communities understand where the greatest return on investment lies. It is not only in new buildings and storefronts, but also in avoiding investments that are unlikely to succeed.
Beyond Retail Recruitment: Strategic Decision-Making
The best economic development partnerships help communities answer bigger questions:
- Which retailers are the best fit for our market?
- Which sites should receive the most attention?
- Where should we invest in infrastructure dollars?
- Which opportunities should we pursue—and which should we avoid?
- How can we maximize staff time and resources?
These decisions often determine the long-term success of a recruitment program.
Retail recruitment is not simply about attracting businesses. It is about creating a strategy that strengthens the local economy, grows the tax base, improves quality of life, and supports sustainable development goals.
The Value of a Trusted Guide
For communities competing for retail investment, access to data is important. Relationships are important. Industry knowledge is important.
But perhaps the most important is having a partner who can help connect with all three.
As Jim Zaleski’s experience demonstrates, successful retail recruitment is not just about landing the next retailer. It is about having a trusted guide who helps your community navigate a complex industry, prioritize opportunities, and make informed decisions that create lasting economic impact.
For economic development leaders, that guidance can be the difference between chasing opportunities and building a deliberate growth strategy.
Next Steps
Retail recruitment is a long-term process that requires market knowledge, industry relationships, and consistent outreach. If your community is looking for a partner to help identify opportunities, evaluate sites, and connect with retailers actively expanding, Retail Strategies can help.
Contact Retail Strategies to learn how a customized retail recruitment program can support your community’s economic development goals.
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A retail leakage report (GAP Analysis) will tell you which category of retailer your community needs, and where your community dollars are escaping.
