New Retail 1-2-3 workbook offers strategies for attracting, retaining retail
(Chicago)
…
Anytown, Illinois, is at a crossroads. Many
residents want economic growth, especially new shops and services, but setting
priorities for the type, amount and location is a challenge. The community must make
tough choices to fund costly public improvements necessary to attract new
retailers, such as sidewalk enhancements and parking lots. And when Anytown thinks it
has everything in place, there still are no guarantees: retailers have their
own requirements for opening a new storefront, and if Anytown doesn’t fit the
bill, they’ll just go to … Anywhere
Else,
USA.
Southwest suburban municipal officials, staff, and
community leaders grappled with the all-too-familiar retail development
challenges facing Anytown at an April 4 interactive workshop at the Kallsen
Conference Center at Tinley Park Village Hall. Fortunately for Anytown, workshop
participants had the new “Cliffs Notes” for retail development in northeastern
Illinois – Retail 1-2-3: A Workbook for Local Officials and Community Leaders
, which helps municipalities identify what it takes to build and
maintain a thriving retail base.
“Retail 1-2-3
highlights the
importance of well-planned economic development efforts,” said Trustee Patrick Rea of
the
Village
of Tinley
Park. “The workbook
will help local officials as they plan to retain and attract the businesses that
strengthen their communities.”
With expert advice from community leaders and retail
developers, and case studies from around the country, Retail 1-2-3
offers recipes
for retail success. The workbook:
-
explains retail’s four Rs – recruitment, retention,
revitalization, and replacement – and explores current trends in retail
development;
-
identifies ways in which a community can improve its
place in the market;
-
illustrates successful retail development by
different kinds of local communities; and
-
lists some of the
resources communities can consult for free and low-cost help with retail
development.
“As global forces continue to reduce U.S. manufacturing and industrial jobs,
retail development is vitally important to the future of communities in
metropolitan Chicago,” said Scott Goldstein, vice president of policy and
planning for the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC). “Whether a municipality is
struggling to redevelop empty storefronts; coordinate retail with residential,
office, or transit development; or balance the needs of long-time local
businesses with growing interest from national chains, Retail 1-2-3
offers valuable insight.”
The workbook also
encourages communities to make retail development decisions within the context
of their comprehensive plans. For instance, by ensuring it has a balanced
housing stock – from market-rate single-family homes to affordable apartments –
a community will attract a wider variety of retail types. Making certain
residents have access to shops, whether they get around by driving, walking,
bicycling or riding public transit, likewise expands the market potential for
new stores.
“You can’t do retail
development in a silo,” said Michael Davidson, manager of the Campaign for
Sensible Growth. “Like all community decisions, sensible retail development
decisions should stem from a comprehensive plan to achieve a community’s overall
vision.”
Retail 1-2-3 – produced by MPC, the
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Campaign for Sensible Growth, and International
Council of Shopping Centers – is third in a series of free workbooks created to
help Illinois communities achieve balanced growth. Sensible Tools for
Healthy Communities, released in 2004, leads local and elected officials
through the development process using 10 principles of sensible growth. The
award-winning Planning 1-2-3, released in 2006, is a step-by-step guide
to comprehensive planning in Illinois. For information on these workbooks,
contact MPC Communications Associate Mandy Burrell at 312-863-6018 or mburrell@metroplanning.org.
The following provided funding for Retail 1-2-3
: Major funders: Bank of America, General Growth Properties, Inc. Other
funders: Target Corporation,
Abbell Credit Corporation,
Land Vision, Inc.,
Applied
Real Estate Analysis (AREA), Inc., Camiros, Chicago Commercial Center Chicago
Title Insurance Company, Goodman Williams Group, Inland Real Estate Corporation,
James Kaplan Companies, LLC, S.B. Friedman & Company, S.F. Solutions, LLC,
Valerie S. Kretchmer Associates, Inc., Walgreens. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus
work on
Retail 1-2-3
was supported by
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.