CUED

The Retail Sector in Dixmoor: Analysis and Options for Action

By comparing sales of local businesses with consumer expenditures in ten major retail categories the report determined that local retailers only satisfied local demand in grocery and auto after-care needs. In fact, grocery and auto after-care businesses exceeded local purchasing capacity, drawing a good percentage of their sales from customers outside the municipality. Meanwhile, Dixmoor residents obtain all their goods in the analyzed categories of footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home improvement, department store, and drug store items outside the municipality. Local restaurants and fast food outlets have the capacity to satisfy less than 50% of the municipality's dining out needs. Dixmoor lacks also basic retail services such as barber shops, beauty salons, and laundromats.

Retail expenditures by local residents, therefore, largely benefit shopping malls and retail businesses in other suburbs. While many outside consumers shop for auto after-care services and groceries in Dixmoor, residents spend their dollars outside Dixmoor in most other retail categories. However, sales to outsiders do not compensate for purchases of residents outside the municipality. As a matter of fact, there is a negative balance of nearly two-fifths between local sales and expenditures.

Dixmoor needs to assess this situation and develop a plan for revitalization or consolidation of the retail sector. Competition from nearby shopping malls and other retail outlets is particularly strong and discourages development of shoppers' goods stores. Some of these stores, however, have managed to succeed in similar locations. Meanwhile, there is room for convenience goods businesses and for stores providing basic services. Further examination of the feasibility of businesses other than those currently serving the municipality is necessary. A consultation through surveys or focus groups is particularly important for asking residents about the conditions under which they would shop locally for goods that they are currently purchased outside of Dixmoor.

Approaches such as mini-malls or a retail concentration developed around public buildings or other strategic facilities should be explored. These concepts, in fact, could provide Dixmoor with a core or "downtown." They could house a combination of service and retail stores currently absent from Dixmoor.

Planning efforts should also seek to further reinforce grocery and auto after-care retailing. As mentioned above, these businesses have managed to attract outside consumers. Their success could be a basis for attracting others. Similarly, their customers could also become consumers of other local retail in their trips to the municipality. Consultations with these businesses can help identify the type of support they need or any arrangement that could further strengthen their businesses. Many of them are small and expressed an interest in expanding. On-site expansion and services ranging from infrastructure to loans are possible options. On the other hand, specialized retail parks could possibly provide a better environment and attract other businesses.

A survey of retailers conducted by UICUED as part of this assessment revealed general commitment on the part of local retailers to stay and even expand. The same survey, however, raised serious concerns about the business climate. The concerns of retailers merit serious analysis and further consultation. They suggest the need for major efforts between the municipality, retailers, property owners, potential developers, and consumers to improve the local retail image, attract investment and assistance, and engage in improvements ranging from retail infrastructure to safety; in short, to put together a series of efforts leading to an overhaul of the sector.

Also, any efforts at retail expansion and business creation should seriously target local residents. Assistance could be approached as a package, including loans, technical assistance to small businesses, and entrepreneurship development.

Given the limited resources of Dixmoor for any major undertaking, the municipality could engage in a joint effort with other contiguous suburbs such as Harvey and Phoenix to improve retail, to make sure that residents have the proper retail services, and to launch perhaps a larger effort of retail development. At a minimum, Dixmoor needs to review the condition of its retail sector and make the necessary adjustments in infrastructure, safety, and image. Ideally, it should develop a short- and long-term plan for its retail sector and seek the resources to implement it.

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UIC-Center for Urban Economic Development