Retail Industry Development

The San Benito EDC is taking a proactive approach to attract retail industry development. Over the last year, a Retail Trade Area Analysis was conducted to determine the need for retailers by merchandise group. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the San Benito Retail Trade Area's strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to develop an effective retail development strategy. In addition, we are first year members of the International Council of Shopping Centers where we have taken the opportunity to market San Benito on a national and international level through various conferences and trade shows.

To prepare for our first participation at the annual international conference, properties suitable for retail development were compiled with demographics to include data by drive times and or mileage radius. We have successfully drawn the attention of several developers which have conducted site visits over the last year.

By analyzing our area’s retail activity, the SBEDC has assisted developers to better comprehend our area's retail market in order to determine the retail services that are being under served; thus, allowing the investor (developer and community) to make a wiser investment. The results of this analysis illustrate the amount of dollars that are available in our trade area by merchandise group.