City of Carthage hears proposal for retail recruitment

The City of Carthage is continuing its economic development efforts, hearing a presentation and proposal on recruiting more retail stores to the city.

Aaron Farmer, president of The Retail Coach, spoke to the Carthage City Commission on Aug. 28 about his work bringing retail developments to cities. Farmer is hoping the city will hire his company to go out and recruit companies to the area.

Commissioners took no action on the proposal, which is a cost of $35,000, and are considering it.

Just over $100 million in retail revenue leaves the Carthage community each year, Farmer said.

“We call that retail leakage, right?” he said. “That’s money that’s bleeding or leaking to surrounding communities. Bottom line, there’s there’s much more opportunity here for retail and restaurants than what you have so far.”

Farmer told commissioners his company helps communities identify their retail opportunities.

“And then we actually go out and recruit retailers, restaurants, developers to that community,” he said, “and then we coach our clients on success on long-term success — basically how to be successful at recruiting retail and new development to the community.”

Carthage, Farmer said, is a regional market for retail and restaurants — citing busy stores like H-E-B and Walmart that draw in people from smaller communities — where people from outside of the community are coming in to shop and eat on a regular basis.

But, at the same time he said, Carthage residents are leaving to eat at restaurants and shop at places they can’t find in town. That, he said, provides opportunities for growth.

“We’ve got to analyze the market, we’ve got to identify what sites are available, we’ve got to identify prospects, and then we recruit,” he said. “So at the end of the day, we’re judged on our success on if we we have success by getting retailers and restaurants here.”

Farmer’s company uses cell phone data to look at patterns, see where people are shopping and where they are coming from.

“So we’re able to use that data to convince these retailers and restaurants that hey, instead of our people driving 50 miles to your closest location, you should put one here,” he said.

It’s a big change from how it used to be done, he said, pointing to H-E-B and how they used to figure out where to put new stores based on gut feelings.

“None of that happens anymore,” he said. “Now it’s scientific, it’s analytical where they locate’ so this is the type of data that we have access to. We also look at what does that demand, right? So it’s one thing to go and say, hey, you know, we’re a town of 8,000 to 10,000 but our trade area is 40,000 or 50,000. And realistically, that’s your trade area, you’re looking at the data we see here, your traders probably four or five times your city limit’s population.

“Well, that’s one thing,” Farmer said. “But now we’ve got to go to those retailers, we’re going to say there’s demand here, right? So that if Chick-fil-A were to locate a restaurant here, they could be successful, there’s enough demand for him. So we run a demand analysis where we look at I think it’s 65 or 70 different sectors. And we determine what is that demand today, and then we look at what is the demand five years down the road. And if we can prove to the retailers, we can prove to the restaurants there’s a demand here to support them, they’ll put a location here.”

Farmer said he has already identified a few sites that could provide space for companies to consider, including the old Aaron’s building in the Carthage Marketplace shopping center, as well as a pad site in front of Walmart.

“Existing space is at a premium right now,” he said. “It’s just it’s cheaper than building new, right, and then go in and just rehab a building for retail or restaurants. So you’ve got available space. But then driving around town, you’ve got vacant spaces as well. And then I see a lot of redevelopment opportunities here.”

He also said his company would help with marketing the community to retail establishments and real estate developers.

“We’re out there on your behalf, representing Carthage,” he said. “At the end of the day, we want to bring those retailers and restaurants here. Can we sit them down, maybe at this table here, to have a meeting about coming to the community. At the end of the day, that’s our goal.”

“And based on my just analysis, my team’s analysis, there’s much more opportunity here than what you have right now,” he later added. “Again, it’s not going to happen overnight, but I think there’s an opportunity to break something.”