This article appeared in the 1999 Spring edition of The Strategic Solution, the newsletter of The Strategic Edge.

 

MARKET SCREENING

 

Since its formation over 10 years ago, The Strategic Edge has worked with a wide variety of clients including governmental agencies, professional firms (attorneys, accountants, etc.), health care, financial institutions, manufacturers, and of course shopping center owners, managers, brokers, and retailers.

 

Those clients who produce their own products and subsequently market them through a variety of distribution channels have represented some of our more interesting and intellectually stimulating challenges. The Strategic Edge has helped a number of manufacturers in launching new retail concepts and revising existing formats to meet changing consumer demand and shopping patterns. In particular, The Strategic Edge has provided area research in markets where older formats existed and needed to be relocated, and conducted a nationwide screening to recommend sound areas for the new format.

 

The new store formats are meant to provide a standardized store "look" and a store environment better than can be found at a typical outlet for the product. A good retail location is viewed as integral to success.

 

The Strategic Edge has been called upon to provide location guidelines and recommendations nationwide for new store formats. A history of working with these clients provided us with a thorough understanding of the industry and the typical customer profile.

 

Using our advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS), combined with the latest demographic and industry data, we set out to find areas of greatest potential and provide a location strategy for the store networks. A sample of markets and point-of-sale information were analyzed to test research assumptions and gain insight into trade area size and demographic make-up. This research provided the basis for the nationwide projects.

 

GIS was used to analyze most MSAs in the United States and find concentrations of potential customers. The Strategic Edge has typically worked with these clients on strategy issues and created models that prioritized areas based upon demographics, retail data, and roadway access.

 

National location screenings provide the foundation for the location decision process. Clients are provided with data and recommendations regarding their respective markets. The hunt for real estate then ensues. Unfortunately, in-office market screenings typically do not address issues of frontage, traffic congestion, ingress/egress, and the many other factors implicit in a real estate deal, so guidelines were established to assist clients with these aspects of location decisions. The result of the project is a more informed client, armed with the research needed to make decisions about market priorities.

 

In many cases, clients request The Strategic Edge to follow up and prepare market locational strategies and evaluate specific sites. These analyses can more accurately assess the competitive framework and site issues. Working with the clients’ real estate representatives, field and corporate management, The Strategic Edge can design an achievable, productive store network for the new concept.

 

 

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