"Median household income $50K and above
100K or more households within a 15 mile radius of site "

Here's where it gets tricky. If they require that those 100,000 households have an income of $50K or above, we're probably OK. If they require the household income for the city as a whole exceed $50K we're out of luck. This is one reason we keep getting passed over. But again, that's such a simplistic requirement, which doesn't bother to take all the different factors that contribute to disposable income into consideration.

betts, they may HAVE originally intended for it to be:

a city with more than 100,000 households AND average income over $50,000; but there's many cities who don't meet this yet are still viable.

I think the coc could do some very easy convincing - we shouldn't get discouraged by those corporate objectives; as they don't take into account local conditions (which might lend to higher disposable income, as in OKC's case).

I think a better corporate statement should be: cities above 100,000 households who have disposable income above $XX,XXX.

Seattle is above $50,000 in per capita gross but I can bet you the average disposable income isn't much different than OKC's (and in fact, OKC might have more).

For fun, when we were hearing from people in Seattle that we were too poor to support an NBA team, I did some calculations. They were incredibly crude, but I looked at average family income, then took the average home price in both places and calculated insurance and property taxes, based on that average home price. In my calculations, which again, were admittedly very simplistic, I found that OKC residents had a higher disposable income after those three expenses were factored in, than did Seattle.

Now, because Seattle is so much bigger, you've obviously got a lot more people above the median than here. But, I honestly believe that most of these retailers simply look at average income and fail to make any corrections based on cost of living. That REI statement is a case in point, I think.

Keep hearing REI commercials on the Okc radio stations.

Are they priming the market? I know retailers will start advertisements in advance of a store quite often.

Keep hearing REI commercials on the Okc radio stations.

Are they priming the market? I know retailers will start advertisements in advance of a store quite often.

Or, they might be checking to see what kind of catalog sales their advertisements generate. I know that if catalog sales are strong, it can create interest in a market.

Catalog sales are exactly what you want to prevent, from a local economic development standpoint. Those dollars do nothing to benefit the community in any way.

Catalog sales are exactly what you want to prevent, from a local economic development standpoint. Those dollars do nothing to benefit the community in any way.

I agree completely, Spartan, and I only use catalogs if I can't find what I want locally, but I do know that some of the national stores that have catalogs use catalog sales to determine where there is demand for a store.

Maybe we could all at least order a catalog or register online at REI. Get more of our zip codes in their computer system.

Maybe we could all at least order a catalog or register online at REI. Get more of our zip codes in their computer system.

about five years ago, kohls started running ads on the miami stations, even though the closest kohls was three hours away. my understanding was they were monitoring traffic to their website to help determine if there was interest in a store. (i left less than two years later, so i don't know if they moved into the area or not).

I think this is an improvement from prior levels of interest indicated by retailers. And again, I'm not sure we really comprehend the value of the Thunder as a marketing tool.:

Retail interest in Oklahoma City is growing, Oklahoma City officials say

FROM STAFF REPORTS Oklahoman
Published: May 26, 2010

About 30,000 people attend the convention each year, with retailers scouting new franchisees and locations and cities hoping to attract new businesses.

This year, Oklahoma City was getting a lot of attention.

"You can tell there has been a real shift in the perception of Oklahoma City’s market,” said Cynthia Reid, vice president of marketing for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. The Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team’s playoff appearance and a recent announcement that Whole Foods is coming to town have given Oklahoma City representatives a lot to brag about.

Reid said they have had promising meetings with retailers such as a ladies fashion and home decor store, a gourmet sandwich and bakery chain, a national discount department store, fast casual dining operators, several mall and shopping center developers and a specialty grocery store. The meetings were confidential, so Reid declined to name the retailers. But, she added, the chance of securing at least one new lease deal is high.



Read more: http://www.newsok.com/retail-interest-is-up-oklahoma-city-officials-say/article/3463918?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0p2Nbgzm z

Several stores the AREA does need:
1. Costco... Let's face it Walmart and Sam's club isn't giving us the BEST prices because they have a monopoly here. Nor are the providing the best produce at either of their locations. Sam's club is a cheap knock off that when faced with Costco competition looses out BADLY.
2. Costco Home Furnishings... Best new store concept they have released in some time. Applied same ideas of the Club store to furniture and works WELL.
3. Fry's Electronics... Best Buy is the Monopoly here as well.
4. REI.. Would run competition for Academy in several areas. Personally I like your Academy reminds me of a store we used to have called Joes in the West.
5. Dutch Brothers Coffee... Yes there is REAL competition to Star Bucks. They like to use LOCAL DAIRY Products... Love that place.
6. Cash and Carry.. Whole sale Food and Restaurant Supply anyone can shop at this chain you have to pay cash if your not a Restaurant or Food Service provider. VERY good BULK purchasing prices smaller warehouse concept. 50LB Bag of Rice 20.00...

You don't need a Nordies... They are all over the Northwest and your not missing a thing there. Over priced JUNK Clothing, that you will see at a NORDIES rack store in 6 months for 1/10 of the price. Nordies in the Portland area has nearly ZERO folks shopping in them these days even at the UPSCALE Malls there.