Revamping retail

Consultant offers strategies for Horn Lake

Horn Lake is considering hiring a consultant to help the city attract retail growth and better compete with its neighboring DeSoto County cities.

Chuck Branch of Retail Strategies, a Birmingham, Ala.based retail recruiter, made a presentation to Mayor Allen Latimer and aldermen last week, saying his company can help the city find businesses that fit with the city’s demographics.

“What we focus on is helping communities understand where they’ve been, where they are and where they’re going from a retail perspec- tive,” Branch said.

Aldermen, heavy into budget talks that may call for a property tax increase, weren’t ready to commit funds to Branch’s services, but they did listen

attentively to a half-hour presentation and asked questions afterward about his thoughts on the city’s retail needs and how he might be able to help.

Branch said if hired, his firm would do detailed market analysis to find the best fits.

“We’ll dig deeply into existing demographics to identify properties to be developed or repositioned,” he said. “We’ll work with local property owners, the city and brokers. And we’ll represent the city at real estate conferences across the country.”

Branch noted that dur- ing a brief look at the area, he identified numerous retailers that should be in the DeSoto market but aren’t.

“We came up with about 24 grocery stores and retailers that should be in this area but are not,” Branch said.

He said Horn Lake has some positives that should help bring those businesses there rather than another DeSoto city.

“There’s a lot of retail missing in this market,” Branch said. “We can reposition some centers to attract some of that. And we noted that your main corridor (along Goodman Road) is very congested, but that creates opportunities to drive some of those new businesses to Horn Lake rather than the other side of the interstate where it’s more congested (in Southaven). We want to drive dollars back into Horn Lake.”

The first question from aldermen was about cost. Alderwoman Amy Lay asked how Branch’s firm gets paid; he said it’s through an upfront fee but didn’t discuss a price.

Alderman Tim Smith asked for Branch’s assessment of what he saw in Horn Lake, and Branch reiterated that he thinks some retail areas need to “repositioned,” without offering specifics, but that the city has plenty of opportunities.

Retail Strategies has 16 employees and works with municipalities in multiple states, Branch said.

STAN CARROLL/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Horn Lake shopping centers like Bullfrog Corner Plaza could benefi t from a consultant’s plan to help them compete with neighboring DeSoto County cities.

Chuck Branch of Retail Strategies, a retail recruiter, told aldermen that his company can help attract businesses to the city. “We came up with about 24 grocery stores and retailers that should be in this area but are not,” he said.