9. EDSR 08-11-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

It is important to review the retail performance for the whole county and not just the town, in isolation. For example, it is common for county seat towns to have above-average retail performance, while the county overall has a leakage of sales. This is usually because the county seat town doesn't have the critical mass of retail to attract the purchases of everyone in the county. By analyzing county data, town business people can develop strategies to recapture some of the sales being lost to other towns. For counties that have a local option sales tax, the analysis of county sales is extremely important, since lost sales are lost tax dollars. A thorough analysis of county sales can help county officials develop more meaningful economic development plans aimed at recapturing the lost sales. The table below shows retail sales and number of firms by merchandise category for Elk River and Sherburne County in 2006. Elk River accounted for 33 percent of the county's firms and 57 percent of the county's sales at the time. Share of County Sales 43% 57% ~ Elk River ^ Rest of Sherburne County Sales by Merchandise Category, Elk River & Sherburne County, 2006 Elk River Sherburne County City's Share of County Total Taxable Taxable Sales Number of Sales Number of Merchandise Category ($millions) Firms ($millions) Firms Sales Firms Vehicles & Parts $14.43 18 $29.40 47 49.1 % 38.3% Furniture Stores $0.24 6 $26.84 23 0.9% 26.1 Electronics $1.86 7 $2.29 21 80.9% 33.3% Building Materials $82.98 12 $105.38 39 78.7% 30.8% Food, Groceries $18.55 9 $32.03 24 57.9% 37.5% Health, Personal Stores $1.73 11 $1.84 17 94.0% 64.7% Gasoline Stations $4.27 8 $11.10 21 38.5% 38.1 Apparel $1.48 15 $1.66 28 88.8% 53.6% Leisure Goods $1.67 19 $11.17 61 15.0% 31.1 General Merchandise $63.50 5 $67.79 11 93.7% 45.5% Miscellaneous Retail $15.09 66 $19.32 228 78.1 % 28.9% Non-Store Retailers $0.56 19 $2.60 71 21.5% 26.8% Amusement & Recreation $1.70 10 $4,70 24 36.1 % 41.7% Accomodations NA NA $1.62 8 NA NA Eating & Drinking Places $ Repair, Maintenance $6.74 33 $14.29 134 47.2% 24.6% Personal Service, Laundry $2.38 41 $4.03 113 59.1 % 36.3% Total Sales* $257.90 482 $452.02 1,439 57.1 % 33.5% Page 26