STARKVILLE — Starkville will continue to contract with Retail Strategies for an additional three years for retail recruitment services.

The city has contracted with the Birmingham-based company since 2016, tasking it with creating opportunities to attract retail for Starkville. The cost of the contract extension is $30,000 with the city paying $15,000 and the Starkville Visitors and Convention Council and the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority covering the remaining costs.

Retail Strategies President of Downtown Strategies Jennifer Gregory and Downtown Strategies Community Development Specialist Jeremy Murdock updated the Starkville board of aldermen on their company’s intentions and goals for the city at the board’s work session Friday.

Bringing a new retailer into the city requires an approximate year and a half process, involving several different entities and individuals, Murdock said. A corporate retailer will work with a real estate director to find locations in specific regions of the county and then possibly enlist the help of a local tenant representative. Investors, developers and property owners also work to create new retail locations.

“Our job is to connect the dots,” Murdock said. “Sometimes it’s following the process all of the way through and connecting the dots all of the way down the process… Our goal is to make sure all of the roles get connected.”

Triangle Crossing Shopping Center, a new retail shopping center developed by Mark Castleberry and Rise Partners, will have several new retail businesses, including Aldi Grocery and Ulta Beauty Supply. Castleberry hired a local tenant representative who worked with Retail Strategies to find retailers for the development, according to Gregory.

Retail Strategies gains analytics on how often people use retailers through cell phone data. Investing $200,000 a year in research and geographic information systems, Retail Strategies is able to tell the story of buying power in Starkville better than a Census can, Gregory said, because people outside of the municipal limits regularly use Starkville’s retailers.

“When you have your location services turned on and go into Walmart, and you get an Instagram notification, it pings your location,” Gregory said. “Other companies purchase that data and process it, and we invest in that technology.”

The firm reported that the daily retail consumers for Starkville is approximately 63,985. Starkville’s population is approximately 25,000.

As an example of the impact of retail development, Gregory pointed to fast food restaurant, Jack’s, which opened in Starkville Wednesday. On average, a typical Jack’s sees $2.6 million a year in sales. A 2-percent sales tax on that revenue earns the city $52,000.

“This is a reason why having a partner like us is so important because we can tell the true story of Starkville’s consumers much better than municipal data,” Gregory said.

Gregory said the company is currently working with several potential retailers for the city by looking at retail gaps and seeing what types of businesses consumers need. The area in the close proximity of Cornerstone Park, Starkville’s new baseball and softball complex due to open in the summer, will be a desired area in the coming months and years for retailers because of the tourism the park will bring.

“The future is bright,” Gregory said. “It’s going to food in a lot of ways, on building supplies, those categories that have been COVID-resistant.”

Parks update

After the city voted to partner with Sports Facilities Management in October, eight employees have recently been hired to help maintain and manage Starkville’s parks and recreation, Parks and Recreation Director Brandon Doherty told the board Friday.

Over the last two months, parks and rec budgeted its expenses as $288,592.34, but only spent $107, 907.52, coming out 62-percent under budget.

Doherty told the board Cornerstone should be ready to open during the summer, and the complex is in its final stage of construction. Parks and rec is in the process of obtaining sponsorships for Cornerstone, with Chick-fil-A already signed on as a partner with a five-year contract.