Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development Retail topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Retail consultant presents site-recruitment work; council presses for better communication and regular reports
Summary
Retail Strategies staff described property outreach, site cataloging, and data tools (including Placer.ai-style geofence analytics). Council members pressed for better, regular reporting and clearer communication after earlier gaps in engagement; the firm committed to quarterly business reports.
Representatives from Retail Strategies reviewed their recent recruitment work in Warrensburg and discussed ongoing efforts to identify sites and engage national retailers.
Cam South (presentation lead) and Gavin Townsend described work with local property owners, a property catalog, and use of foot-traffic data services (referred to as Placer.ai) to benchmark local store performance. Townsend and an associate explained typical retail-site selection steps, from property cataloging to LOI and permitting, and presented a Tractor Supply case study illustrating a two-to three-year timeline from site identification to store opening.
Council members expressed frustration with prior communication, saying the city had received little reporting from previous years and from the retail consultant. One council member said the city felt “in the dark” the last three years and asked for more consistent updates. Retail Strategies representatives said they provide a quarterly business report to their point of contact and agreed to deliver QBRs to city management and make council updates more regular.
Council members asked staff and the consultant to continue exploring public-private options to aggregate lots for a quick-service restaurant and to supply more regular inventory and progress reports to the council and public. The presentation did not produce a formal vote; staff and the consultant agreed to improve communications and provide quarterly reporting.
