Vernon Hills working to protect investment
Store closings have not reached critical mass but even Vernon Hills' expansive retail base has shown some cracks, a situation that has village leaders on the offensive.
EXPO Design Center was the most recent to call it quits and with Circuit City, Tweeter and others gone, the vacancies are adding up. Even though more than $1 billion in goods are sold in Vernon Hills in a given year, the holes have become disquieting.
"We're starting to accumulate a number of quasi, big box empty locations," said Trustee Jim Schultz. "We need to try and figure out who is a fit and entice those folks into town."
To boost sagging sales, the village is acting on several fronts.
Mayor Roger Byrne has assembled an ad hoc committee of residents involved in various aspects of development, for example.
Residents also have been alerted in e-mails that sales tax represents more than half the village revenue. Receipts are used to pay for police officers, snow plowing and other services, residents are reminded, and they should concentrate on spending locally.
Beyond that prodding, the village is spending $25,000 for expert advice. As it has every few years, Melaniphy & Associates Inc., a Chicago-based analyst is conducting a retail market study for the village.
This time, the firm will provide a store strategy analysis - a blueprint of how to find replacements for vacant or soon to be vacant stores. It also will identify future trends, including new arrivals to the Chicago area and other types of businesses that would be best suited to meet local demand.
Vernon Hills is largely landlocked but there are a few prominent open sites, such as: Gregg's Landing retail area; the northeast corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60; and, the former Kelly's day camp on Route 45, for which strategies will be formulated.
Preliminary findings include some grim facts: overall retail sales will decline in 2009; household wealth, credit availability and job growth - key components of retail sales - are all declining; and, store vacancies are increasing.
"We're in unprecedented economic times," John C. Melaniphy III informed the village board last week.
"It's really staggering when you look at the list, of store closings nationally. We're trying to take a proactive approach and try to head this off."
In a lengthy presentation, Melaniphy said there are some areas, such as grocery stores, in which the village is lacking. He provided lists of possibilities in that and several other business categories to consider.
But there are several variables and most retailers are reconsidering their growth strategies, Melaniphy said. Attracting certain types of stores also depends on the available space or cost of land.
Improvements to the Westfield Hawthorn mall could be a key to attracting stores like Tiffany & Co. or L.L. Bean, for example, he added.
Still, there are some strong spots. As of the end of September, furniture stores and drinking and eating establishments continued to do well in Vernon Hills, but apparel sales were down noticeably.
Melaniphy's final report won't be finished for a few months. In the interim, he will meet with the ad hoc committee and village staff will collect data that may be used in future pitches.
Estimates of how overall sales may fare in Vernon Hills have not been made public. But it doesn't appear encouraging.
"We definitely feel it will be less some percentage, but not double digits," said Village Manager Mike Allison. "We'll probably be spending some funds out of reserves for the budget for this coming year (but) not a lot."