Dalton targets retailers to meet locals' needs

DALTON, Ga. -- Alex Stall is the new face at the Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority, and he has a big task: Bring more retail business to a community that sees strong links between retailers and higher-earning, educated residents.

"We want everyone who works in Dalton to live in Dalton," said Stall, on the job since July, "but particularly executives and young professionals, who often opt to live in Chattanooga or Cartersville [Ga.] and commute to Dalton."

In his efforts, Stall will pore over sales tax and retail data showing what products Whitfield residents most often buy outside the community. That data, when presented to retailers, can convince stores that there is an appetite for their goods or services, Stall said.

The most recent such data, prepared in a report by the consulting firm Electric Cities of Georgia, identifies nearly $8 million worth of goods purchased outside the community over the last year. Retailers refer to such figures as "leakage," Stall said.

The biggest chunk of leakage comes from furniture sales, which totals about $1.6 million. But residents also drove outside the city's retail center for sporting goods, music, books and lawn and garden supplies, according to the report.

"Our main use of these reports is to evaluate what retail needs are not being met in our community and to target retailers in industries being underserved," Stall said.

In addition to making Dalton a more attractive place to live, bringing in more retailers also bolsters the community's sales tax base, which has been sluggish over the last year.

Just scoring one large retailer could have a domino effect, said Brandy Christian, general manager of Walnut Square Mall, the 79-store retail outlet owned by Chattanooga's CBL & Associates.

"Even if we can't house a retailer on our campus, a new store can keep shoppers local and they will shop at other stores here," Christian said.

Target, long courted by Dalton leaders, would have that effect, she said.

"Other stores see that Target chose your community and they recognize Target customers as being their type of customer, so they will look at your community," Christian said.

Walnut Square already utilizes the leakage report when recruiting new stores, but Christian said having a full-time development authority employee on the task is helpful.

Stall said his main two jobs include recruiting new retailers and fostering local entrepreneurs.

"I think we've been provided these reports before, but there wasn't an active person using them to attract new business," Stall said.

But the task isn't easy. Retailers often have a set demographic in mind when planning future stores, and in the grip of the three-year recession it's been hard to recruit cautious retailers, officials said.

"With this data, we can show retailers that there is a need here that isn't currently being met," Stall said. "That's a big advantage."