Retail Trade Area
The City of Waterloo has contracted with The Retail Coach to provide a detailed analysis of Waterloo’s Retail Trade Area and a Retail Gap/Opportunity Analysis. Through their study, they have determined that Waterloo’s Retail trade area is over 60,000 in population, making the Waterloo market very attractive to retailers.
20 Fast-Track Families – 12.17%
With their upscale incomes, numerous children, and spacious homes, Fast-Track Families are in their prime acquisition years. These middle-aged parents have the disposable income and educated sensibility to want the best for their children. They buy the latest technology with impunity: new computers, DVD players, home theater systems, and video games. They take advantage of their rustic locales by camping, boating, and fishing.
25 Country Casuals – 11.72%
There’s a laid-back atmosphere in Country Casuals, a collection of older, upscale households that have started to empty-nest. Most households boast two earners who have well-paying management jobs or own small businesses. Today these Baby-Boom couples have the disposable income to enjoy traveling, owning timeshares, and going out to eat.
33 Big Sky Families – 11.00%
Scattered in placid towns across the American heartland, Big Sky Families is a segment of younger rural families who have turned high school educations and blue-collar jobs into busy, upper-middle-class lifestyles. Residents enjoy baseball, basketball, and volleyball, as well as fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. To entertain their sprawling families, they buy virtually every piece of sporting equipment on the market.
37 Mayberry-ville – 8.41%
Like the old Andy Griffith Show set in a quaint picturesque berg, Mayberry-ville harks back to an old-fashioned way of life. In these small towns, upper-middle-class couples like to fish and hunt during the day, and stay home and watch TV at night. With lucrative blue-collar jobs and moderately priced housing, residents use their discretionary cash to purchase boats, campers, motorcycles, and pickup trucks.
28 Traditional Times – 8.13%
Traditional Times is the kind of lifestyle where small-town couples nearing retirement are beginning to enjoy their first empty-nest years. Typically in their fifties and sixties, these uppermiddle-class Americans pursue a kind of granola-and-grits lifestyle. On their coffee tables are magazines with titles like Country Living and Country Home. But they’re big travelers, especially in recreational vehicles and campers.
While this information may be titled “gap”, it is effectively an opportunity. The “gap”is essentially the difference between a community’s estimated actual sales and its estimated potential sales based on a per capita spending average per retail sector for the state. In short” GAP equals OPPORTUNITY.
| SIC Retail Sector | Leakage Amount |
|---|---|
| 521 Lumber and Other Building Materials | -$21,860,710 |
| 523 Paint, Glass and Wallpaper | -$4,241,108 |
| 525 Hardware Stores | -$17,698,650 |
| 526 Retail Nurseries and Garden | -$7,921,779 |
| 527 Mobile Home Dealers | -$527,708 |
| 53 General Merchandise Stores | -$22,541,270 |
| 541 Grocery Stores | -$83,921,910 |
| 542 Meat and Fish Markets | -$725,148 |
| 543 Fruit and Vegetable Markets | -$2,456,213 |
| 544 Candy, Nut and Confection Stores | -$544,154 |
| 545 Dairy Products Stores | -$161,649 |
| 546 Retail Bakeries | -$810,196 |
| 549 Miscellaneous Food Stores | -$4,852,641 |
| 551 New and Used Car Dealers | -$72,265,460 |
| 552 Used Car Dealers | -$10,734,600 |
| 553 Auto and Home Supply Stores | -$15,118,550 |
| 554 Gasoline Service Stations | -$14,149,880 |
| 555 Boat Dealers | -$731,495 |
| 556 Recreational Vehicle Dealers | -$1,435,571 |
| 557 Motorcycle Dealers | -$2,651,226 |
| 559 Automotive Dealers, NEC | -$5,924,141 |
| 561 Men’s and Boys’ Clothing Stores | -$2,191,185 |
| 562 Women’s Clothing Stores | -$3,724,950 |
| 563 Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores | -$602,423 |
| 564 Children’s and Infants’ Wear | -$988,688 |
| 565 Family Clothing Stores | -$3,026,394 |
| 566 Shoe Stores | -$3,721,661 |
| 569 Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessory Stores | -$1,711,589 |
| 571 Home Furniture and Furnishing | -$19,817,250 |
| 572 Household Appliance Stores | -$3,059,978 |
| 573 Radio, TV, and Computer Stores | -$44,991,670 |
| 5812 Eating Places | -$76,796,980 |
| 5813 Drinking Places | -$3,616,294 |
| 591 Drug Stores and Proprietary | -$14,642,790 |
| 592 Liquor Stores | -$2,599,536 |
| 593 Used Merchandise Stores | -$2,680,903 |
| 5941 Sporting Goods, Bicycle and Gun Stores | -$2,384,663 |
| 5942 Book Stores | -$1,324,294 |
| 5943 Stationery Stores | -$8,487,963 |
| 5944 Jewelry Stores | -$1,745,423 |
| 5945 Hobby, Toy and Game Shops | -$2,668,703 |
| 5946 Camera and Photography Supply Stores | -$353,841 |
| 5947 Gift, Novelty and Souvenir Shops | -$3,287,284 |
| 5948 Luggage and Leather Goods Stores. | -$201,121 |
| 5949 Sewing, Needlework and Craft Stores | -$282,596 |
| 596 Non-store Retailers | -$8,061,937 |
| 5992 Florists | -$1,910,451 |
| 5993 Tobacco Stores and Stands | -$472,258 |
| 5994 News Dealers and Newsstands | -$204,880 |
| 5995 Optical Goods Stores | -$1,780,954 |
| 5999 Miscellaneous Retail Stores, NEC | -$30,585,830 |
With a healthy mix of both retires and families with school aged children, Waterloo is composed of all different types of lifestyles. Popular activities include hunting, fishing, traveling and going out to eat.
Waterloo consumers have the disposable income and educated sensibility to want the best for their children. To entertain their sprawling families, they buy virtually every piece of sporting equipment on the market.
