Retail is perhaps the fastest changing of all the commercial real estate sectors and one of the highest sought after economic drivers of a community. One in four jobs are retail based jobs and a large percentage of the municipal budget comes from property tax and sales tax from retail. Primarily, retail adds quality of life which is critical to the housing and job growth in a community.

In an effort to promote successful retail recruitment, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has partnered with the UCDD and Retail Strategies, a full-service consulting firm that develops and implements long-term retail real estate strategies for municipalities and economic development agencies.

Through their program Retail Academy, Retail Strategies provides a way to connect rural municipalities to the tools and knowledge-base necessary to equip them in proactively recruiting sustainable retailers, while maintaining existing local businesses.

Retail Strategies assists communities by providing a workshop focused on building and executing a retail recruitment strategy. By incorporating topics such as industry trends, site selection, customized data, marketing, networking tools, and the best practices in retail recruitment, they help the communities define and execute against specific opportunities. The communities walk away with a set of deliverables that equip them to take their recruitment strategy to the next level.

This program helps communities pinpoint their identity, learn how to most effectively market their community, and ultimately learn how to most efficiently enhance their retail landscape.

PROGRAM CONTACT

Haley Dickson

P: 931.476.4173  E: hdickson@ucdd.org