Evaluating Retail Markets in Several Small Cities :: Retail Market Analysis

Due to the resent desire of expanding into one of the following three cities; Ann Arbor, MI, Lincoln, NE and Madison, WI that have been chosen for possible location sites. I Regina Molel, Junior Executive of Swifts’ researched and analyzed the best possible location to start up another Swifts’ boutique, due to the request of Swifts’ CEO, Taylor Swift. At Swifts’ Boutique there will be merchandise that will appeal to those around the ages of 15-24 years old. The ideal area for the new expansion would have a larger population of teenage girls as well as younger women that are within our age range. Our company will be looking for Economic Indicators such as Household Income Growth and Projected Future Job Growth. Site Selection is a key category for the reason that depending on the location selected could make or break a company, for this reason we will be looking at Mall Locations, retail Sales, Local Transportation, and Entertainment and Restaurants. Then finally there is the competition; Swifts’ will be looking into how many stores are there that have the same customer base and would be competing with our brand directly. Madison, WI and Lincoln, Ne both did very well in the category of Population. Madison has a Metro Population of 568,593, Lincoln has a Metro Population of 302,157, and Ann Arbor, MI with 344,791. As for Female Population, Lincoln was on top with a total Female Population of 129,462, then Madison with 118,377, and finally Ann Arbor with 57,779. Ann Arbor may seem like it is being beat in most of the categories but when it comes to our target market Ann Arbor is at the top with 31.8% of their population landing in the range of 15-24 years of age, next with Madison at a 22.1% and lastly, Lincoln with 19%. Looking in to the Economic Indicators is at the highest in Lincoln at .8% Household Income and 44.48% for Future Job Growth, then in Ann Arbor with .4% Household Income, 31.30% Future Job Growth and finally ending in Madison with 0% Household Income, and 36.78% for Future Job Growth. Within the three towns there are possible malls that Swifts’ could expand in that would be sui table. The Retail Sales falls into this category, Madison dominating the Women’s and Girls’ clothing with $382,503 in sales, next would be Lincoln with $218,360, and lastly Ann Arbor with $155,768.