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Tallassee Retail Market Analysis

The Tallassee City Council made a very important decision on Monday, August 23rd at its regular meeting. The decision was to authorize a retail market analysis to be conducted under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Miller of the UAB School of Business through his Business Analysis Laboratory. The study will be of particular importance for the Chamber of Commerce as well as the newly organized Tallassee Redevelopment Authority. The finished product will include a market profile that analyzes the population, the housing characteristics, income levels and employment characteristics in Tallassee. It will also include community tapestry segments, spending potential index, retail market demand analysis and retail leakage. The spending potential index and retail market demand analysis will include data for a 10, 20, and 30-minute drive. This means that the study will analyze the potential not only within the confines of the city limits, but also for everything within a 30-mile radius of Tallassee. The study will identify opportunities for retail developers. It is the kind of information that local business owners need in making strategic decisions to expand operations. It is also the kind of tool that can be used by the Chamber of Commerce to attract and recruit new retail businesses to Tallassee.

OK, it sounds technical; it is technical. But it is what we need in order to attract business to Tallassee. There ought to be a place in Tallassee where a man could buy a suit! There ought to be a sports grill in Tallassee. There ought to be an upscale restaurant in Tallassee. There ought to be a convention center in Tallassee. After Dr. Miller and his crew do their work and the Chamber of Commerce with the assistance of the Redevelopment Authority sets about its task, we will be able to get a handle on the ways to make our community more attractive to retail and commercial enterprises; and that will make the community more attractive to potential residents and visitors, thereby leading to growth in all areas of business, retail and tax base.

Dr. Miller has Tallassee connections. His wife, Jill Crew Miller, is the daughter of J. B. and Nell Crew who moved into Tallassee in the 1940s and lived on Gilmer Avenue. We have every reason to believe that his work will be a very important step forward.

The zig-zag path leading to this important development has an interesting history. Mayor George McCain set his sights on riverfront development at the old mill sites while he was Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce. You can imagine his excitement when he learned that Cooper Brothers Construction Company had bought an interest in the mill sites on the east side of the river owned by K-Mac, a deconstruction company. Instead of a deconstruction project it has turned into a construction and development project.

Tallassee needed but did not have a Redevelopment Authority to assist in identifying potential redevelopment zones, financing and tax incentives. In order to involve the community more fully with the Riverfront Project, the Mayor and Council appointed a steering committee to assess needs, identify preliminary tasks and make plans for the project. Dr. Billy Hilyer, a member of that steering committee assisted in garnering $50,000 from the Alabama Department of Tourism and Travel to fund some of the preliminary work that was needed for the development of the Riverfront Project. A part of that $50,000 will be used for the Tallassee Retail Market Analysis.

In the meantime, Dale Segrest was instrumental in organizing the much-needed Redevelopment Authority. The Chamber of Commerce and the Redevelopment Authority will work very closely together with reference to the Riverfront Project and both will utilize the Retail Market Analysis produced by Dr. Miller and his crew to attract other retail and commercial business to Tallassee.

I’ll bet that Pete Cottle and Ronald Brantley remember the famous line of the leader of the A-Team: “I love it when a plan comes together.” A lot of people are making good plans come together for Tallassee!

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