Half an hour from Kansas City, Missouri, lies a town worthy of a postcard. Oak Grove, Missouri, has a recently-renovated downtown, quaint neighborhoods, and a highly-regarded school district, all leading to its untapped retail potential.
To help capture some retail growth, the City of Oak Grove has partnered with retail recruitment consulting firm The Retail Coach. In business more than 16 years, The Retail Coach is a pioneer of the retail recruitment industry. With clients in 29 states and 86% repeat clients, The Retail Coach uses their expertise to help communities reach their goals.
“The city’s primary goal is to provide additional retail and restaurant opportunities and help existing businesses thrive and grow. The city would like for residents to have the ability to meet as many of their shopping needs at local businesses as possible,” said City Administrator Steven Craig.
“The city examined several companies and The Retail Coach offered a plan and vision for Oak Grove that rose above the competition. The City is looking to maximize its retail and commercial potential by working with The Retail Coach,” said City Clerk Cathy Smith.
“Oak Grove has a strong retail base to build upon and is ideally situated on Interstate 70 in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. The city has seen robust residential growth recently providing a need for additional shopping options while continuing to support and retain existing local businesses,” said Tim Mathes, Assistant City Administrator.
Retail Study Components
The Retail Coach will begin by determining Oak Grove’s Retail Trade Area, or the larger region from which the community derives 80% of its consumers. Once this area is identified, The Retail Coach will analyze the demographics and psychographics of the consumers, noting how values and preferences influence spending habits. The Retail Coach team will also conduct consumer surveys and compile reports that will include a Retail Gap Analysis to identify goods and services that consumers are traveling outside the community to purchase.
The team will then conduct a Land Use Analysis to analyze sites not serving their highest and best purpose and make recommendations on how to improve the sites. The Retail Coach will perform a Hotel Analysis on Oak Grove and the surrounding area to determine the need for additional hotels.
Armed with this information, The Retail Coach will create a Retailer Match List based on national brands’ site selector criteria. The team will then recruit those businesses on behalf of Oak Grove with highly personalized marketing materials.
“Located on Interstate 70, Oak Grove has tremendous potential for new retailers and restaurants. The traffic counts on Interstate 70 combined with a Retail Trade Area population of 61,348, will make Oak Grove attractive to site selectors. Immediately, we see a potential for casual sit down restaurants, hardware, and hotels, just to name a few,” said The Retail Coach Vice President Aaron Farmer.