Retail Recruiters Work To Lower Vacancy Rates In Downtown Districts

Keeping an interesting, attractive mix of retail tenants has always been the goal of downtown business alliances, chambers of commerce, and commercial property brokers and owners. By offering low vacancy rates, these groups can drive consumer traffic and keep sales revenues up—all key ingredients in ensuring an economically sound downtown district. But with the recent economic downturn and closures of big box retailers like Borders and Blockbuster, retail vacancies are posing a real problem for Main Street USA.

To combat this issue, a new set of experts are popping up around the country to assist in filling the vacancies by courting small business owners, explaining why their downtown is a good fit and setting them up with an ideal retail location. Business alliances that represent the interests of property owners and retailers are hiring retail recruiters to act as “matchmakers” for local commercial property owners, brokers and potential retail tenants. Downtown districts are recognizing that by hiring retail recruiters, they’re actually jumpstarting the local economy through proactive recruiting methods.

One such program is located in Downtown Highland Park, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. The Downtown Highland Park Alliance hired Angela Shaffer as their retail recruiter in June 2010 to proactively address vacancy rates and bring in new retailers that add to the interesting, attractive mix of tenants. Her job is to seek out potential new merchants and act as a “cheerleader” for the community. In addition to showing business owners the vacant locations that would be a good fit for their businesses, she showcases several reasons why they should locate in Downtown Highland Park above other communities.

Within one year, Angela has made in-store visits to approximately 400 businesses in 25 communities in Illinois. She has assisted in placing four businesses with leases in Downtown Highland Park, and has one in negotiations at the moment. There are 15 active prospects considering specific locations in the downtown area, some who have already been in touch with the respective property owner. To date, she has made over 200 specific property referrals. Two businesses Angela has helped place in Downtown Highland Park are opening in the spring: Sweet Bites, a cupcakery, and ArrivaDolce Gelato and Coffee Bar.

In general, though the economy is tough for retailers, Downtown Highland Park is still seeing a flurry of activity. In March alone, Angela conducted four tours, one resulting in a lease negotiation. There is great momentum happening in town. The east side is booming, the west side has new businesses preparing to open, and she expects to see some great activity in the months to come. It’s exciting!

“I have an entrepreneurial background, so I understand the needs that business owners have when searching for a retail location,” says Shaffer. “Our retail recruiting program is an advantage to Downtown Highland Park—we’re finding that we’re able to reach more prospective merchants and introduce them to our community. Plus, we’re offering a benefit to these business owners, because we are an unbiased source in terms of property location—we show potential tenants all of the vacant spaces that meet their criteria in our downtown district and help them understand the market. We want them to succeed in the long run in our downtown, so we’re going to work our hardest on their behalf.”

One of the best advantages to business owners is that retail recruiters are generally staffed through their downtown business alliance, so this is a service they receive free of charge.

Retail recruiting programs such as the one in Downtown Highland Park are becoming a nationwide trend to proactively offset the negative effect the economic downturn had on downtown districts. Retail recruiters are certainly a growing trend nationally. One consultancy noted that they have created 17 retail recruiter programs across the country in large and mid-size cities, including new programs in Detroit and Seattle. This is good news for business owners seeking a new location as well as any stakeholders concerned about vacancy rates—retail recruiters are creating a win-win situation for everyone!

Angela’s advice to business owners seeking a retail location in a downtown district is to contact their business alliance and find out if a retail recruiter is available to assist them. They will conduct plenty of research on behalf of business owners, filling them in on the benefits of setting up shop in the community and helping them determine a location that is the best fit for their business needs. Best of all, they’re providing a resource at no cost.

By addressing vacancy rates, empowering small business owners and encouraging shopping locally, Angela and the Downtown Highland Park Alliance believe retail recruiters are a necessity to help today’s downtown districts thrive.

Contributed by Bridget Kagan, who is the Marketing Coordinator for the Downtown Highland Park Central Business District Alliance in Illinois. For more information on the Downtown Highland Park Alliance, visit www.downtownhp.com.