RETAIL OPPORTUNITY - COME AND TAKE IT!

The City of Gonzales and the Gonzales Economic Development Corporation recently hired Retail Strategies to provide retail market data and identify growth opportunities within Gonzales’ trade area. The data shows there are more than 37,000 people living in the retail trade area. The retail trade area is expected to grow by 3.6% in the next five years. The median household income is $54,946. The daytime population is more than 30,000. The daytime population consists of employed persons, retired person, and the student population. The average age of males in the trade area is 39 and the average age for females is 41. All of these indicators are favorable for the trade are population to have the opportunity to shop within the city limits.

Gonzales’ retail trade area is similar to communities in Texas such as Marble Falls, La Grange, Canton and Center. As part of the report, Retail Strategies conducted a gap analysis, which is a summary of the primary spending gaps segmented by retail category measures actual consumer expenditures within the City’s trade area and compares it to the potential retail generated by retailers in the same area. The difference between the two areas reflects leakages, or the degree to which consumers travel outside the community for certain retail goods and services. The value of the gap for Gonzales is approximately $101,711,041. While this data is not perfect, with proper analysis, we can get to a good indicator than without the data. The overall potential for growth is positive and confirms their is room to grow the economy within the focused growth industries of grocery, food and beverage, clothing stores and health and personal care.