PCDC Meeting Provides Statistics on Retail Opportunities

Business owners, future entrepreneurs and the public are invited to learn about local shopping trends and retail opportunities at an upcoming meeting sponsored by the Phelps County Development Corporation.

PCDC has contracted with Buxton Co., a nationwide statistics and marketing firm, to study the local market and provide information on buying patterns to help local businesses increase market share and discover new sales opportunities.

“We see significant opportunity in Phelps County for retail growth and development,” PCDC Executive Director Ron Tillery said. “We think it is extremely important that we are proactive and intentional in our efforts to spark growth, and that is why we have contracted with Buxton.”

All information is provided at no cost to Phelps County businesses. The public is invited to a meeting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 25 at the Sun Theater, where results and statistics from the Phelps County study will be presented. Anyone with an interest in learning more about local shopping trends and opportunities is invited to attend.

Parker Key, regional director of sales for Buxton Co., said this service has the potential to improve the quality of life for residents by sharing opportunities to generate more tax revenue, which in turn improves the community’s overall economic condition.

Buxton is conducting a thorough market analysis of the area to identify the best new opportunities for existing retailers or the best potential new retailers to bring into the market. Buxton reports will indicate what customers are buying in the community and what they are buying at retailers outside the community.

Last fall, Buxton shared a preliminary leakage/surplus report to PCDC staff and volunteers that showed Phelps County had strong sales in the automobile sales and parts business, but it has potential for another $8 million in sales in the clothing and clothing accessories business. That means that residents are spending more than $8 million on those products outside of the county and that some of that money could be captured locally by providing new products.

This type of data will be revealed at the upcoming meeting and can help an entrepreneur make decisions based on actual statistics rather than guessing or word-of-mouth comments.

In addition to identifying new sales potential, Buxton also provides businesses with comprehensive marketing tools and consultation as well as psychographic profiles (highly detailed breakdowns) of Holdrege retail trade area customers.

The Buxton services and information are provided at no cost to Phelps County residents and business owners. For more information, contact Tillery at Ron@PhelpsCountyNE.com or (308) 995-4148.