BBRED Completes Analysis for McRae-Helena

April 1, 2016

In mid-March, the Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development (BBRED) delivered a retail gap analysis to the City of McRae-Helena. This report identified potential industries in the retail market that are ready for expansion. To find these industries, the research team examined both demographic and consumer spending data using several defined areas around and including the City of McRae-Helena.

The report will be used by the City of McRae-Helena to aid its business attraction and retention efforts. As part of this analysis, the research team compared the retail markets present in the City of McRae-Helena to three comparison regions which included Telfair County, contiguous counties to Telfair and a 25 minute drive-time radius around McRae-Helena. The drive-time radius was used because consumers will cross political boundaries to buy the goods and services they are demanding. This analysis of the McRae-Helena retail market found that building material and garden equipment stores have a significant sales surplus, meaning that consumers from other markets are traveling to this area to purchase goods from this sector of the retail market.

The analysis identified four potential sectors that could be good recruiting targets for the City of McRae-Helena. Currently, the city is taking active steps as a direct result of the BBRED study to recruit new businesses to the area. Finally, BBRED would like to thank the North American Development Bank and the GENIE program for financially supporting this research project.