LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport and the consultant it hired to work on retail recruitment and retention in the city held the first of two open houses for local businesses on Wednesday, with the second meeting planned for Thursday afternoon.
City of Lakeport staff and Austin Farmer, project manager for The Retail Coach, were on hand for the Wednesday afternoon open house at City Hall.
The second open house will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the conference room at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St. The public is invited to attend.
The Lakeport City Council voted to hire The Retail Coach in July to help bring in new retail businesses and assist current businesses with growth and improvement strategies, as Lake County News has reported.
The firm has already completed a study on the city’s retail climate, which will soon be available on the city’s Web site, with key information and demographics that the city wants to share with local businesses.
Farmer is reviewing the information – which he said will be updated annually – with participants at the open house.
The council’s decision to bring on the firm came about a month ahead of the announcement that the Lakeport Kmart, which has been a key retailer in the city for decades, is set to close its doors by mid-December.
That will leave vacant its 86,000-square-foot building on South Main Street and leave an estimated 100 employees out of work.
As one of the top 10 sales tax generating businesses in the city, the Kmart closure will result in a drop in sales tax revenue that city officials said will have a negative impact on the city’s general fund, which provides money for key services including policing.
In addressing the store closure, Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said Wednesday that the city is now in a better position with the information The Retail Coach has already provided than it would have been six months ago.
City Manager Margaret Silveira told Lake County News that after the Kmart closure announcement, Farmer got right to work looking at options for the city.
He’s also due to attend the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Western Conference in Los Angeles next week, during which he will make outreach to retailers who could help fill the gap left by Kmart. Silveira said one of the benefits The Retail Coach offers the city is that it has relationships with national retail companies.
She said the city immediately made outreach to the property manager for the Kmart building – which is held by Lany Lakeport LP, a California limited partnership – to start looking at alternatives.
Silveira said there are some possibilities but no commitments yet, adding it will take a while to fill the space.
She said she would love to see a large general goods retailer go into the site immediately.
During Wednesday’s open house, Farmer explained that his company is putting together a list of 30 to 40 retailers to approach about coming to Lakeport. It will focus on that recruitment during the last eight to nine months of its one-year contract, and will promote Lakeport’s amenities to those companies.
He said the company plans to focus on filling the gaps in the city’s retail economy.
As for concerns about where national retailers might locate, he said they don’t go into downtown areas any more.
At the end of the city’s one-year contract with The Retail Coach, there will be an option to renew. Farmer said the firm has worked in some communities for as long as a decade, acting as an extension of the city’s staff.
Farmer said it’s good to have an outsider’s point of view. During his visit to Lakeport, he said he’s found that if someone wants to get a bite to eat at around 10 p.m., the only options were fast food restaurants and a gas station, with no downtown restaurants open.
He said that 80 percent of retail sales are made after 4 p.m., and if businesses are only open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., they’re catering only to the unemployed.
Silveira said that, in addition to the open house sessions, the city has set up more meetings with local businesses and Farmer during his current visit. Farmer said he expects to return to Lakeport for another visit in October.
He said on Wednesday that there has so far been very good engagement with local businesses, with the full room at the open house a good sign.
“It’s been a very productive first day,” Farmer said.
Anyone interested in meeting with or speaking to Farmer is encouraged to contact Silveira at telephone 707-263-5615 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Ingram at telephone 707-263-5615, Extension 201, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
City of Lakeport hosts workshop on business climate, opportunities; second session set for Thursday
- Elizabeth Larson
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