Data Is Convincing Retailers to Invest in Lesser-Known Communities

Today, many developers are using artificial intelligence and analytics to make decisions on projects of interest. Sometimes that might point them in another direction and when that happens — municipalities must be prepared to overcome objections. This was a case that Mayor Cole found himself in when he was at ICSC CHICAGO and met with a retailer that originally was not interested in La Vergne due to the limited growth it originally projected for the area. And let's just say Cole brought the receipts and was able to win over that retailer, even though La Vergne may not get that same attention that nearby Nashville gets.

"I sat down and started showing him our numbers that we have pulled for permits that have been approved and pulled by the municipalities in this area," he explained.

The end result was enough to change the company's thinking about the suburb of Nashville. According to Cole, La Vergne is the fastest-growing county in Tennessee.

He added "that area now, (La Vergne) has roughly 12,147 new homes going up, has a 100-acre mixed-use development that's being built with over 200,000 square feet of retail space."

This also speaks more about the importance of networking during ICSC events. Beginning in 2019, Cole said the city was able to build a relationship with BJ's Wholesale Club after showing it the data about the growth patterns in the area.

"They weren't familiar with our area, but we had put together the data, both organically and then working with groups to get them the information to make it a simple decision to choose La Vergne as the first location (in Tennessee)," he said.

The Technology that Made the Difference in Newark

Then we head over to the Northeast, where Manz revealed more specifics about the type of data her team uses to attract retailers to the city. This was provided through software firm, Placer.ai.

"This past year, we did unmet demand recordings in Placer.ai to capture what people need and where do they need it," she explained.

"We found that Newark residents, just county residents, not looking at visitors, not looking at employers that are there during the day, which is about 500,000 people total, they spend $6 billion a year, and $2 billion of that in other communities."

Again, Newark may not get the same attention that the nearby Big Apple gets, so it's important to make a compelling case with data. That's what Manz recently did with Black-owned fitness provider Harlem Cycle, providing the organization with Placer data that showed Newark residents made more than 160,000 specialty fitness visits over the past year. This was part of what convinced Harlem Cycle to invest in the city.

"Knowing your data is part of it, and then you got to tell the story," she explained.

Back in the Southeast, to Madisonville, Long has overseen Kentucky Connections, a newly created group that partners cities across the Bluegrass State to focus on retail recruitment at trade events. Long said he thinks this will grow to 10 or 12 cities by ICSC LAS VEGAS 2026, from the eight recorded in May 2025.

The selling point for Madisonville, according to Long, is its daytime population, which more than triples its residential demographic. He credits the city's strong healthcare system for this, noting that one hospital in the area serves 11 counties and nearly 300,000 people.

Again, providing the right type of data and networking at these ICSC events is critical for smaller municipalities to play a part in convincing brands.