McCORDSVILLE — A recent market analysis and community survey commissioned by the town of McCordsville shows the area is leaking millions of dollars to shopping done elsewhere.
Veridus Government Services, an Indianapolis-based collective that, among other things, helps local governments and private-sector clients use data to grow their communities, presented the results of its study of the McCordsville area at the most recent McCordsville Town Council meeting. The group worked to validate the need for retail space within a re-envisioned downtown area through demographic analysis and a large community survey, said Courtney Zaugg, Veridus director of economic development.
Results of the market analysis showed the population of the McCordsville area is fast-growing, affluent and highly educated, with a large number amount of people employed in white-collar jobs, said Marcie Klaunig, a Veridus group associate.
“Those are all great indicators for the success of the downtown project,” she said.
Town manager Tonya Galbraith said the town center project is on hold at the moment while it is determined where County Road 600W will go. But it remains at the heart of McCordsville’s ambitions. The plan envisions creating a vibrant downtown area near the heart of the town at County Road 600W and State Road 67.
Retail market gap analysis showed there is demand for all manner of businesses: restaurants, grocery stores, department stores and more in the primary market area, which includes the entirety of McCordsville’s town limits as well as a surrounding area of about a 10-minute drive, Klaunig said. She noted the primary market area include parts of Lawrence, Fortville and Fishers as well as McCordsville.
McCordsville only accounts for about 10 percent of the population in the primary market, she explained.
The first tier of retail businesses comprises restaurants and grocery stores that would serve as an anchor for the town center, Klaunig said. There’s significant demand for more of those types of stores, she said: their analysis showed a demand of $102 million being spent every year with $48 million of that leaking from the market area as shoppers go elsewhere.
“These are sales that could be happening in your community if you had more resources,” Klaunig said. “You could think of it as an opportunity being missed, or an opportunity you could seize upon moving forward.”
She said McCordsville doesn’t have a surplus of demand in any of the categories they studied, meaning any retail businesses added to the area are likely to keep residents shopping in McCordsville.
Veridus also held focus groups with community leaders, Zaugg said.
“The survey is one of the best ones we’ve had in any community,” she said. “We had 873 respondents come in and provide some really great, detailed information. For a town the size of McCordsville, that’s a really great response.”
According to the survey, more than 80 percent of respondents eat out one to three times a week, Zaugg said.
Restaurants are more and more important as anchors for retail, Klaunig said, and survey respondents said they wanted trendy concepts, such as farm-to-table, brew pubs or organic dining options.
There’s large, unmet demand for grocery stores as well, the survey revealed.
Klaunig said residents in the primary market area spend $144 million at grocery stores every year, according to their market analysis, but 54 percent of that is spent outside of McCordsville. The numbers they presented don’t include Meijer, but Klaunig estimated a store of Meijer’s size would represent about $8.4 million per year in sales, meaning there is still considerable demand to be met, even with Meijer included.
“Meijer is a drop in the bucket in terms of filling in the gap on groceries,” Klaunig said.
Some 73 percent of people surveyed said they leave the McCordsville area to do their grocery shopping, Zaugg said. They’re leaving the area to seek out specialty items and memorable experiences, she said.
Town council members questioned the presenters about their concerns, including how to prevent the loss of retail stores they potentially bring to the community. Klaunig said their study doesn’t have those answers, but that the town council can take the results to potential retailers and show there’s plenty of demand.
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Veridus Group conducted a market analysis study and several community surveys of the McCordsville area, which showed the following:
– McCordsville’s population is fast-growing, affluent, educated and disproportionately employed in white-collar jobs
– Millions of dollars spent every year are leaking out of the McCordsville area as shoppers drive elsewhere to eat at restaurants, do their grocery shopping and seek other items like clothing, beer and wine and more.
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