Staff Writer
The McGregor area is filled with many small businesses. The owners of these businesses now have a place to turn if they are looking to expand and to please a bigger costumer base. John Bennett from the Center of Community Vitality from the University of Minnesota Extension office partnered with Aitkin County and the Aitkin County tourism fund and worked with several area business owners to compile a Market Area Profile (MAP) for McGregor, Aitkin and Hill City. The results of the MAP were presented at Fireside Inn on Wednesday, June 24.
“We took a look at who the costumers are in Aitkin county and who the seasonal residents are and just analyzed what kind of money they have to spend and the things they like to buy,” explained John; “hopefully, using that information to put together a report that is useful for local businesses, organizations and local governments.” The project has spanned over several months and can be useful in showing where potential for more business exists and where certain businesses can be cut back.
The MAP for McGregor covered a 10-mile radius around the city of McGregor consisting of 3,302 people living in 1,504 households. The main goal of the profile was to get a good look at the most common types of people representative of the McGregor area and to find out what they spend their money on. In order to obtain this goal, two reports were done, one on local residents and one on seasonal residents.
The first report was done on the local residents, and it found that three main types of people live in the McGregor area according to the University of Minnesota Extension. The three types of people identified were rural resort dwellers, senior sun seekers and rooter rural. Each one of these tapestries of people has a different description and different buying habits.
The rural resort dwellers were 42.2% of the McGregor area population. They tend to live in rural, nonfarm areas, are usually single families that live in mobile homes. The median age of these residents is 47.1 years, and the median household income is $47,908. Rural resort dwellers are used to modest living and have simple consumer taste.
The second most prevalent type of resident in the area is the senior sun seeker. Accounting for 31.6% of the population, these people are often known as “snowbirds” who move south for the winter. Most of these residents are retired, and their median age is around 52.5 years of age. Senior sun seekers enjoy dining out, reading, watching TV, fishing, playing backgammon and bingo, and gambling at casinos.
The third most dominate group in the McGregor area is the rooted rural. Rooted rural makes up 26.1% of the local residents. These households are usually married couple families with a median age of 42.2 years. The families tend to move infrequently and are do-it-yourselfers. Rooted rurals enjoy hunting, fishing, and listening to country music on the radio.
Another important part of the survey was to include the seasonal residents because the McGregor area has many, and that can significantly impact the buying power in the area. The dominate type of seasonal resident was the sophisticated squires. Sophisticated squires enjoy cultured country living in newer home developments. These urban escapes are primarily married couple families, educated and well employed. Most sophisticated squires own three or more vehicles, and they enjoy playing volleyball, bicycling, playing board games, going to the zoo and attending soccer and baseball games.
The descriptions of local and seasonal residents help businesses understand who their costumers are and what services or products would be most beneficial for the area. This portion of the survey creates the “potential sales in trade area.”
“We take a look at the number of stores that are in demand based on the spending potential,” described John. “Then we look at the number of stores that are in supply, and that gives us the potential stores estimate for the area.”
This report is not meant to give set-in-stone data to determine if a businesses will thrive in the area, rather it is meant to give a jumping-off point for businesses and others considering starting a business. According to the report, the business activity in the area is actually mostly stable with only a slight need for some things and only a few businesses that are over demand. In fact, the most significant need for a business based on potential sales, number of stores demanded, and number of stores supplied was beauty salons. Other businesses that could be helpful are amusement parks and arcades, personal goods repairs, general rental services and other personal care services. Businesses that were over demand included full-service restaurants, travelers’ accommodations and drinking establishments.
The MAP report will be an essential tool for local businesses and residents considering starting a business. It can be used to discover what type of people live and visit the area, along with their potential buying power. The report will help the community of McGregor thrive.
