The City of Cookeville’s retail recruitment partner, Retail Strategies, met with the Cookeville City Council on Monday, May 14. The meeting took place at City Hall and allowed the council to discuss Cookeville’s goals and opportunities for future retail growth and development.
Retail Strategies is an organization providing tailored solutions to meet the unique retail needs of communities. They specialize in identifying retail and restaurant opportunities as well as managing outreach efforts on behalf of their community partners. Retail Strategies also supports initiatives for small businesses to foster the development of vibrant community spaces.
In Monday’s meeting, Cookeville’s retail market was discussed with special emphasis on the importance of Cookeville’s “trade area.” This trade area shows the distance from which consumers travel to Cookeville at least once a month to shop or visit restaurants. The area extends well beyond the city and county limits and highlights Cookeville’s importance as a retail hub for the region.
An updated daytime population was also provided. An estimated 63,535 people travel to Cookeville daily to work, eat, and shop. Of this population, students and local employees comprise the majority.
Trends in the retail sector were also discussed. The sectors with the most demand for growth were identified as grocery, health & personal care, and restaurants.
According to Jon Ward, Director of Community Development, the data shared with the council “highlights retail as a vital economic driver for the city.”
“The sales tax generated by Cookeville’s retail stores and restaurants benefits both residents and visitors immensely,” continued Ward. “These taxes are used by the City to bolster infrastructure and provide quality of life upgrades to our community.”
In the coming week, representatives from Retail Strategies will travel to Las Vegas for the annual International Council of Shopping Centers. At this conference, they will showcase Cookeville’s potential to developers and representatives from retail chains all around the county.