The city of New Rochelle has hired an analytics firm to identify retailers who could set up shop in the city.
Buxton Co., based in Fort Worth, Texas, works mostly with retailers to help them find good sites for stores. It reverses the process with cities, matching household profiles to the needs of retailers.
The company mines information from more than 250 databases to identify specific characteristics of households and even individuals, according to its website. It works with 77,000 data points, including demographics, psychographics, finances and health care. Credit card transactions, license plate “captures,” cellphone data and consumer surveys, for example, are used to identify potential customers.
Demographics alone tell retailers almost nothing, a Buxton representative told city council members at a Feb. 7 presentation. The company says it breaks down every household into unique psychographic segments that reveal patterns that help retailers select locations with the highest potential for maximizing their investments.
The company will identify specific retailers and contacts for the city to pursue.
The analytics contract is part of New Rochelle”™s strategy of positioning the city as an ideal place to live, work and grow a business. It has rezoned 279 acres around the downtown train station, where is hopes to attract development of 1Â million square feet of retail, 2.4 million square feet of office space, 1,200 hotel rooms and 6,370 housing units.
Buxton was hired by the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency for $50,000, in a no-bid “unique technology” contract, said city spokeswoman Kathy Gilwit.
