05-02-2007 City works aggressively to market retail opportunities

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o�sou Tx F dx :J b W eFacE � � y� a 1, a2 1865 Office of the Mayor NEWS RELEASE May 2, 2007 11:OOam City works aggressively to market retail opportunities Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or Bill Schalliol, 235-5842 Jimmy John's opened three outlets in South Bend and Texas Roadhouse decided to build anew south-side restaurant in Erskine Commons thanks to data on South Bend's retail potential compiled by a market-research firm. And city officials took steps Tuesday(May 1, 2007)to ensure that local developers and real-estate agents have the most current customer-behavior data and market research to help them attract more new retail business to South Bend. In advance of the May 20-23 spring convention in Las Vegas of the International Council of Shopping Centers, city officials met with about two dozen real-estate agents, developers and downtown advocates Tuesday at Downtown South Bend's offices. Many of the participants plan to attend the tradeshow, an"annual carnival of deal-making" for major retailers making decisions about where to open new stores. Between 25 and 35 percent of all shopping center leases are signed or conceived at the gathering, according to the ICSC. "We'd like to have you make successful trips to Las Vegas ... and to bring back more retailers to the South Bend area," said Bill Schalliol, an economic development planner with the City of South Bend. Schalliol has represented the city at the last several shows in the hopes of luring retailers to South Bend sites. `By getting this information to you, we hope we can make some of that happen." The strategy grows out of Mayor Stephen J. Luecke's commitment four years ago that economic development would be the top priority of his third term as mayor. And that commitment has been put into a focused retail approach by a reoriented Department of Community and Economic Development.