WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
Competition is good. Whether it is on the football field, in the classroom, or in business, competition can bring out the best in everybody. While I know all business is in some form or another a competition, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about my so called “competitors”. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I know who they are. I know what they offer and what “services” they provide. But I am not in business to “compete”. I am in business to provide world class service to my customers, whether they are city governments, county governments, economic development organizations, developers, retail or restaurant brands, real estate professionals, or private land owners. I often hear communities express disappointment and angst over spending considerable money with “competitors”, and I wonder why city employees are many times gullible to the sales pitch of vendors who promise “data” that will get new retail to their community. In a lot of cases, a community’s “data” is what is turning the private sector off.
Sometimes the real issues in economic development are not dealt with when cities hire companies like ours. Very many times what communities think they need is not what they really need. Everywhere you look these days, in every form of media, someone is selling something. Modern marketing and advertising is so good, many times money is spent on goods and services that simply do not meet the perceived or real need. One of the foundational ways Retail Attractions is different is because our primary work is assisting cities in figuring out what the real needs are. We are not trying to sell your community a slick report or “demographic data”. And I am not trying to downplay the importance of market data, but the fact is that your community’s data may hurt you more than help you if your focus is on the wrong thing. Our goal is the overall growth of not only a community’s tax revenue, but the improvement of the community image and establishing a real world vision for what the community could become, and improving the overall quality of life for every citizen. The first step is always discovering the reality of where we are now. In every city, somebody should realize that progress requires change. A city that wants to do real economic development must realize that, over time, it must do things that make it different than it is now. It must do things better, and become more relevant, more disciplined, better aligned, more strategic. And it must build consensus. The problem is that institutions and organizations, like people, resist change. People and organizations seek stability and resist change.
I try to be an agent of change. Retail Attractions is always working to inject real and lasting change to situations that resist change, it is fun work. The foundational thought and scope of work of every city leader should be to determine exactly where change has to be applied. And knowing exactly where we are is the best way to figure out what needs to change.
Is your community ready to take the challenge?
Call us, we can help.
Rickey Hayes is the principal of Retail Attractions, LLC, a firm dedicated to helping cities and developers successfully find and develop retail sites, close deals, transform communities, and improve the quality of life for our client cities.