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County funds Retail Strategies plan with state grant to target $54M in retail leakage
Summary
Franklin County accepted a one-year, Florida Commerce–funded retail recruitment engagement with Retail Strategies to analyze trade areas, quantify retail leakage and begin active retailer outreach; consultant cited about $54 million in retail spending leaving the county.
The Franklin County Board of County Commissioners heard a retail-recruitment presentation Feb. 4 and will deploy a state-funded, one-year contract to get market data and active outreach to retailers.
Retail Strategies consultant Sarah Beth Stewart told commissioners the firm would build a custom trade area using cellphone-derived movement data, perform site and real-estate analysis and produce a prospect list to actively recruit retailers. Stewart said preliminary retail "leakage" analysis shows roughly $54 million in retail spending leaving the county that, she said, could be captured by adding amenities and services.
"Overall, your retail leakage in Franklin County is $54 million — that means there are not enough amenities within Franklin County for your residents and consumers to shop local, and so that is a number we see is leaving the community," Stewart said during the presentation.
County staff obtained a Florida Commerce grant that will cover about 73% of the $45,000 plan; the county’s one-year share would be $12,070 from a line item for economic development. Staff said the first-year deliverables must be submitted quickly: a research summary by Feb. 28 and a final strategy by April 30.
Commissioners and staff discussed land availability (much county land is state- or federally owned), the seasonal tourism population, and potential impacts on local mom-and-pop businesses. Public commenter Gayle Riegelmayer urged caution, arguing retail recruitment often brings low-wage jobs and can displace local small businesses. Commissioners said they wanted to balance managed growth and community character while using data to target compatible prospects.
"We are not trying to make you a St. Cloud or Panama City," Stewart said. "We want to find really unique assets and really unique prospects for Franklin County."
The county will host a stakeholder meeting and provide local business owners with data reports and opportunities to participate in the plan. Staff and the Tourism Development Council are coordinating an independent section-6 analysis to support a separate St. George Island infrastructure request; that analysis will run alongside the retail report.
Action record: The board previously approved executing the Commerce grant contract and accepted Retail Strategies’ proposal; staff will proceed with the one-year contract and stakeholder outreach per the grant schedule.
