LEAGUE CITY — Baybrook Mall is putting a big dent in League City’s economic development dreams.
Retailers regularly reject the city in favor of spots closer to the mall or NASA Road 1, said Doug Frazior, head of the economic development office. Others say they can’t build in League City because a similar establishment exists just miles up the road in Webster.
“It is a clustering effect with shopping centers around Baybrook,” said Frazior. “We are hard-pressed to identify those businesses that aren’t already at Baybrook Mall.”
The city relies predominantly on taxes from rooftops to keep operating. But as the area’s population balloons, officials say League City needs to become more than just a bedroom community, so the city council hired a marketing consultant to offer some help.
Ft. Worth-based Buxton was paid to analyze three potential commercial hubs within League City, categorizing shoppers in those areas into 66 marketing profiles. The hope is to use the data to woe specific stores and eateries.
The city paid $25,000 for the initial research. On Tuesday council will decide whether to dish out another $35,000 for a study identifying specific shops and restaurants that would match well with shoppers living within 10 miles of each location.
J.F. “Chip” Rodgers, who presented the first phase of the study this week to council members, said League City has the right population and “segmentation” mix to draw in at least some specific businesses.
The Interstate 45 and state Highway 96 site, for instance, includes a big chunk of “kids and cul-de-sacs,” “new homesteaders” and “boomtown singles,” according to the Buxton report.
By using credit card data, magazine subscriptions, car leases and other data, marketing companies such as Buxton can categorize any potential shopper into a profile like one of these.
“Everyone of us here falls into one of these categories,” Buxton told a group of council members on Wednesday. “It’s deep; it’s deep information.”
He said the categories are used by more than 70 percent of retailers when deciding where to put a new store or restaurant.
“Kids and cul-de-sac” people, for instance, are “upscale, suburban, married couples with children” who shop for “child-centered products and services,” according to the Buxton report.
Those in the “winner’s circle” segment maintain “wealthy suburban lifestyles,” and are “big spenders who like to travel, ski, go out to eat, shop at clothing boutiques and take in a show.”
The full list of profiles also includes “shotguns and pickups” and “money and brains” categories, although neither of these were largely represented within the League City zones studied.
“You are well-blended,” Rodgers complimented council. “I worked with a city where literally 70 percent of the population fell in Segment 41, which is fine for that community, but very difficult trying to draw retailers.”
Segment 41 is “sunset city blues,” a category defined by people who are “lower-middle-class singles and couples who have retired or are getting close to retirement” and who have lifestyles “filled with newspaper and television by day and family-style restaurants by night.”
Despite the scientific presentation of the Buxton data, some council members seemed unconvinced Wednesday that the research would translate into more commercial visitors.
Councilman Jim Nelson questioned whether the study could draw more hotels and motels to the city. Councilman Rusty Tidwell prodded about Bass Pro Shops, and the possibility of actually luring one of these “destination” stores to the League City area.
Rodgers offered no promises, adding that his company does not specialize in hoteliers. But he did say he was able to get a Bass Pro Shop into at least one community.
The goal really, said Frazior, is for the city to spark some commercial growth so that other businesses will get interested and start seeking out the city on their own.
In Webster, Betsy Giusto, the city’s economic development director, credits her city’s business-friendly attitude and wealth of high-traffic corridors as big assets when drawing new businesses to town. But often the city benefits simply from all it already has — the mall, Nasa Road 1, miles of established and already booming businesses.
“Everybody wants to come to Webster,” she said. “We really are the retail nucleus of the area.”
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Sites of marketing study: Interstate 45 and Highway 96, I-45 and FM 646 and FM 270 and state Highway 96
