As retail struggles to gain traction, one group is helping downtown Greenville dig into the regional market.
Charles Parker with The Retail Coach has been facilitating new retail opportunities for 650 communities across 38 states and is working with the city of Greenville to attract local, regional and national brands. He described the process as being a “megaphone for the community” during a planning session with Greenville City Council on Oct. 25.
Using cell phone tracking technology, Parker found downtown Greenville had as many as 3.5 million visitors from across the country over a 12-month period from August 2020 to August 2021 — and that’s during the pandemic, when retail traffic was off by between 10% and 12%, overall.
Regionally, visitors are concentrated in an area extending from Atlanta, Georgia to Raleigh, North Carolina, Parker told the council.
Parker said the group hopes to recruit the right brands that offer the most growth potential for downtown shoppers.
“That’s our job — to align these stars,” he said.
Greenville Mayor Knox White said the sweet spot is with regional brands — like Mast General Store — that only have a few locations.
“Some of the best breakthroughs are brands that are expanding into a second or third location,” said White said.
Council member Ken Gibson said rising costs are making it hard to lure local and regional brands downtown, where a square-foot rents for about $35.
Merle Johnson, director of Economic and Community Development for the city of Greenville, told Gibson his office is continuing to meet with downtown property owners to discuss issues like rent in hopes of keeping prices in sync with market conditions.
