WTRA Team Attends ICSC Southeast Conference
The West Tennessee Retail Alliance Team, sponsored by WTIA, recently attended the ICSC Southeast Conference and Deal Making Session in Atlanta. Special thanks to Jim Blankenship for signing on to lead the group! Here are his thoughts on the trip.
“Our participating communities enjoyed a successful attendance in this year’s ICSC Southeast Retail Event held in Atlanta. For many of our attendees, this was their first trip to this large retail conference and exchange. Our communities, with the assistance of WTIA, worked hard to prepare for this event by updating marketing materials, doing analysis of which retailers best meet their needs, and having their best presentation ready. This preparation paid off by them actively seeking out and meeting with the retail site selectors and having some success.
Establishing a professional and personal relationship with retailers, and in some cases, getting that person interested enough that he or she asks for additional information or even a visit, is the goal of these shows.
One of our participants met with the VP of a huge national chain and that VP took notes and promised to investigate what they could do to have a win/win situation. Also, our participants learned much by attending the varied educational presentations. They left Atlanta better informed, better skilled in their retail recruitment skills, and fully excited for improving their retail development for their communities.
I look forward to continuing my role in helping our communities in the recruitment of businesses and improving their quality of life.”
The WTRA team was hosted in the booth of NaviRetail, LLC. CEO Casey Kidd had this to say, “The Atlanta show was a great one this year! We were approached my many developers looking to do deals in Tennessee, albeit cautiously, but most certainly interested in the area. There seems to be a resurgence of brick-and-mortar in rural markets. I would attribute this as a testament to the economy, and even a wise strategy for getting businesses closer to their consumer in an effort to compete with online sales. If they can build a store 5 – 10 minutes from your home, they’ve beat even the best 2-day shipping that online stores tout.”
Call WTIA to Join the Team!
