Peekskill to Unveil Downtown Retail Recruitment Strategy

This is from the City of Peekskill: The City of Peekskill will unveil its Downtown Retail Recruitment Strategy on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the at the Neighborhood Center, 4 Nelson Avenue, Peekskill, NY. The forum is open to the public and there will be a question and answer period following the presentation.
 
The strategy explains the city’s plans to identify and attract complementary businesses that reflect market potential and consumer demand, outlines improvements to make the downtown more visitor-friendly and attractive, and maximizes the city’s strengths in its marketing and promotional efforts.

The Downtown Retail Recruitment Strategy is the result of a comprehensive year-long effort including an assessment and inventory of the current downtown business mix, a review of zoning and regulatory requirements, analysis of consumer survey results and market data, interviews with stakeholders and a compilation of the downtown’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Armed with this new data, we are prepared to contact prospective businesses in targeted categories like restaurants, art-related retail, specialty foods, apparel, and boutiques.  We want to grow our brand identity as the regional center for arts, entertainment, dining and commerce by attracting businesses that will prosper and complement our existing commercial base and institutional anchors,” said Peekskill Mayor Mary F. Foster.

The report shows that Peekskill has a strong recognizable brand as a regional destination for live music, entertainment and dining, that consumers have a need and desire for new specialty retail offerings that can prosper here, and that better signage, lighting, and coordinated marketing efforts would make for a more favorable visitor experience.

The recommendations are included in a final report compiled Larisa Ortiz Associates, LLC and JGSC Group of Merchantville, New Jersey.  Along with the survey, the consultants conducted interviews with government and civic leaders, and business and commercial property owners, developed comparative evaluations of commercial districts that serve the community, and compiled economic data from the region.