DEGC enlists DC-based Social Compact to draw retailers to neighborhoods

Detroit Economic Growth Corporation will work with Washington, D.C.-based Social Compact to attract retail to Detroit neighborhoods, including the six Next Detroit areas. Social Compact uses data that is not included in census information to portray buying power.

Excerpt:

"We see the Social Compact work as absolutely critical to what the right business-attraction targets are, especially in the retail sector, and being able to make a compelling business case for Detroit," said Detroit Renaissance Inc. President Doug Rothwell.

The studies help show things that out-of-towners often can’t see about Detroit, such as increased foot traffic downtown since Campus Martius Park opened, said Jim Bieri, a retail consultant and president of the Detroit-based Bieri Co.

"I believe they’re able to identify retail demand in a way traditional demographics can’t," Bieri said.

"Many retailers find that the Social Compact and its methodologies are verifiable and they accept them as fact," [DEGC president and CEO George] Jackson said.

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