(Atlantic) At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Atlantic City Administrator John Lund reported on the recent meeting with a representative from “Retail Coach.” The city hired the firm at $40,000 to assist the city with retail recruitment and development. The funding is coming out of Local Option Sales Tax dollars.
According to the companies ‘ data, Adair, Casey, Walnut, Elk Horn, Audubon, and Avoca residents most frequently visit Atlantic. The fourth of July and the day after Christmas are the highest spikes, and the lowest point is in late January.
The actual trade area is 33,189 based on cellular activity. The firm also noted the 65-and older population in Atlantic is high, at 24.08-percent, which is not great for retail activity, but not unusual for rural communities.
Lund says the research showed nothing in the data of concern compared to the national averages for communities Atlantic’s size. A negative population is not good but not uncommon for the communities like Atlantic.
Lund says the positive news is going from a population of 6,792 to a trade area of 33,189, a considerable leap and uncommon for a city of Atlantic’s population. Lund says what is unusual is the visitors have higher disposable incomes than Atlantic residents, which he said is a good thing.
The firm’s five-year growth for Atlantic is positive, with a potential increase in motor vehicles and supplies, pet and pet supplies, musical instruments, gas stations, all restaurant categories, electronics, health, personal goods, pharmacies, drug stores, and cosmetics. The city is experiencing negative growth in clothing and clothing accessories, and Retail Coach representative Austin Farmer will challenge his data team in this area of negative growth.
Farmer also presented a match-list which included; apparel/shoe company as a near-perfect marriage for Atlantic, Chick-fil-A was shown as a good fit for Atlantic, doubtful they would come because they are not in an expansion phase in Iowa. However, Farmer would like to get Atlantic on their radar.
Retail Coach’s next step is to start filtering and compiling target businesses.
Lund would also like Farmer to come to Atlantic and share his data with existing businesses currently building Local Option Sales Tax dollars within the trade area and show them how much Atlantic values them.
Retail Coach has been in business for 20-years and now serves 120 communities in 40 states. Farmer says Retail Coach has added five million square feet of retail space to its clients over the past five years.
