You are here

Recruiting the right retailers

Share |

By Amy Stansbury Friday, 06 June 2008

Pflugerville hires consultant to generate list of ideal stores and restaurants based on where residents shop

Central Market, Costco, Babies R Us, Souper Salad and Rooms to Go are just a few of the retailers that would be perfect for Pflugerville, according to retail customer analytics company Buxton.

Based in Fort Worth, Buxton is considered to be the industry standard for customer analytics and retail site selection, said Pflugerville Economic Development Director Charles Simon. The city hired Buxton to provide a list of stores and restaurants that would be ideal for the area. The report cost $65,000 and the city used 4B funding generated by a half cent of Pflugerville’s sales tax to pay for all but $10,000, which landowner and Pfluger Crossing shopping center developer Barth Timmermann provided.

Buxton representatives first met with the city council about four years ago, but Pflugerville was not yet ready to invest in their services. people

“We’ve been considering it and interested in using them ever since,” Simon said. “There are two reasons we didn’t do anything four years ago. The [sales tax] revenue was very low at that time, so it would have been a much bigger chunk of the budget back then. But the biggest factor is that there were no retail projects going.”

Now, construction is under way on several shopping centers. Phase two of Pfluger Crossing, the shopping center that includes Wal-Mart, is being built at FM 685 between Pflugerville Parkway and Pfennig Lane.

Home Depot, the first store at the new million sq. ft. Stone Hill Town Center, opened May 8 at the southwest corner of Toll 45 and Toll 130.

Pecan Street Plaza, a 38-acre mixed-use triangle development, is also planned for the south side of Pecan Street, stretching from behind Walgreens on Pecan Street to Heatherwilde Boulevard. Developer Cid Galindo said he is doing more work to understand market trends before beginning construction.

The city, PCDC and the Greater Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce are helping developers attract retailers and businesses to the area, Simon said.

“This would help diversify the sales tax base, which would lower residents’ property taxes,” Simon said. “It would also bring goods and services closer to residents.”

Where people shop

In April, Buxton delivered a report to Simon with a list of more than 130 retailers in markets similar to or with less retail sales opportunity than Pflugerville. Experts at Buxton created the list based on customer buying habit information they analyzed from the company’s more than 250 databases.

Consumers are often asked to enter their ZIP codes when paying at the pump for gasoline, provide their phone numbers to clerks when checking out or fill out contact information for rewards programs. Buxton is the largest buyer and user of the data acquired through these methods, said Buxton Territory Business Manager Richard King.

“With technology and all the information we give out about ourselves, whether we like it or not, we do it,” King said. “We’re able to harness all of that information and make it all make sense to a municipality. You may have demographic information, but we have information about the actual consumer you have in your market.”

Demographics include facts, such as marital status, age, the cost of a person’s home and even salary, but not where people shop or how much they spend.

“We use psychographics to analyze a market versus strictly using demographics because if you use demographics, it’s basically general and stale information,” King said. “It doesn’t actually portray what exactly is going on as far as consumers are concerned. It doesn’t tell us whether a person shops at Neiman’s or Wal-Mart. We predict the kind of retailers you would shop at, or do shop at.”

New shopping centers

Buxton first conducted initial evaluations of three developments: Pfluger Crossing, Stone Hill Town Center and Pecan Street Plaza. Then, based on the location with the highest traffic, Buxton recommended Pecan Street Plaza for a more in-depth retail opportunity analysis. However, Simon said he and the rest of the PCDC board decided to have Buxton evaluate Pfluger Crossing instead. The city manages economic development funds with approval from the PCDC board and city council.

“When Buxton presented the market characteristics and retail potential for Pecan Street Plaza, we just thought there was more competition closer by, like all the retail at IH 35 and Parmer Lane,” Simon said. “And when I saw the market characteristics and retail potential for [Pfluger Crossing], I thought people would be more likely to shop at that location.”

There is still a 1,200 sq. ft. storefront in this section available immediately and Timmerman is working with retailers to get them to commit to spaces that will be available when phase two is complete.

“If you look at the stores at Pfluger Crossing, Game Stop and Baskin Robbins are doing really well,” Simon said. “We knew any kids’ stuff would be an ideal fit, and it’s even more confirmed with the [psychographics] information Buxton gave us.”

Phase two of the shopping center is near Pflugerville Parkway and includes Taco Bell and Starbucks. Jack in the Box is expected to break ground in early June and be open by the end of the summer. Construction is under way on a second retail strip building that will total 12,273 sq. ft. and feature a Radio Shack on the end, facing FM 685.

Timmermann is using the Buxton survey results as a tool in filling the rest of the shopping center with stores and restaurants.

“We want to become more familiar with the retailers and hopefully get some of them to join the Pflugerville area,” Timmermann said. “The [psychographics] might be a surprise to the retailers, but I wasn’t shocked. So many families is such the key demographic base and there are so many opportunities for retailers who appeal to that.”

The community has high standards for the design of their shopping centers, Simon said.

“When Wal-Mart wanted to move here, we told them ‘you can’t put your standard big gray box here,’” Simon said. “[The Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Associations] really did a good job of setting expectations and the Wal-Mart turned out really nice. All of our shopping centers look good. If you think about it, developers really influence the way a community looks.”

The list of retailers and psychographics information is available on the PCDC website, www.pfdevelopment.com.

“Right now, we’re trying to get the information in the retailers’ hands, to make sure they know Pflugerville is the place for them to be,” Simon said.

Movers & Shakers

Retail customer analytics company, Buxton, ranked dual-income couples between he ages of 35 and 54 who are highly educated and usually have children as the No. 1 category of consumers in Pflugerville.

Pflugerville’s Economic Development Strategy

“When Toll 130 opened, Pflugerville was one of the only areas with the infrastructure in place, ready for development. We have not only land, but we also had utilities in place when the toll roads opened because we anticipated what that would do for us.” — Charles Simon, Economic Development Director

Challenge — Much of the development and real estate community think of Pflugerville as it used to be and are not aware of how it is today.

Strategy — Build awareness of the retail and commercial growth opportunity by indicating readiness for development, including land, roads, utilities, city approvals and zoning.

Tactics

Retail survey — A consultant, Buxton, was hired to research market opportunity and create a list of ideal retailers for the area.
Trade shows — Eight city and chamber representatives attended the International Council of Shopping Centers trade show May 18-21 in Las Vegas.
Brochures — PCDC distributes brochures that feature a community profile, statistics, city codes, tax rates, incentives and more.
Website — In May, PCDC launched a redesigned website, www.pfdevelopment.com.
Bus tour — PCDC held an event April 24 that included lunch, an expo organized by the Greater Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce, and a tour of the city. More than 125 real estate agents, commercial developers and title company representatives attended. Simon said he received feedback from many of the attendees who said they were unaware that the areas near Toll 130 and Toll 45 were in Pflugerville, and that the city had the infrastructure and entitlement (city approvals and zoning) in place for development.

Pflugerville Community Development Corporation

PCDC was formed in August 2001 when residents passed the collection of a half-cent sales tax for the use of 4B funding designated for economic development. PCDC promotes economic development and employment on behalf of the city by developing, purchasing, leasing, implementing and financing projects under Section 4B of the Development Corporation Act of 1979. Texas state law requires a corporation be formed to manage economic development funds. The city council and corporation’s board of directors must approve any spending of 4B money.

PCDC Board of Directors

The board is composed of seven members serving two-year terms. Each director must be a qualified voter of the city and be a resident of the city, however there is no certain length of residency required. Up to four employees of the city, members of the city council, or other officers of the city are allowed to serve on the board.