Civic Economics and the American Booksellers Association have released their annual Indie City Index, a ranking of every Metropolitan Area in the United States based on the health of the local, independent retail sector.
The Southeast had two cities in the top 10 – Dalton, GA and Gainesville, GA.
Civic Economics and others have produced a series of studies quantifying the economic and community benefits of independent retail and service providers. The essential finding of these studies has been that locally-owned and independent businesses recirculate substantially more money within the local economy than do their chain competitors.
Think: Pensacola Hardware vs. Lowes; Susan Campbell Jewelry vs. Mall jewelry store; Duh! vs. Pottery Barn; Fish House vs. Red Lobster; Intracoastal Outfitters vs. Sports Academy; and my favorite, Independent News vs. Gannett-owned daily.
According to Civic Economics, the Indie City Index is designed to build on that knowledge by providing a benchmark of community performance at the Metropolitan Area level and establishing a database for future research.
The index identifies those markets with the strongest independent retail sectors in a unique way by looking at sales of major chain stores in each market. The idea is that by identifying a substantial portion of retail sales in each market attributable to the major chains, we would develop a gauge of chain store saturation. The flip side of that gauge, then, provides a strong indication of the relative market share of local, independent retailers.
The study used all storefront retail sectors, except automotive and grocery stores. Using data from OneSource, Civic Economics mapped the locations and estimated sales of every outlet, more than 120,000, for every retailer with more than $1 billion in annual sales. Sales totals were then matched with estimates from Nielsen Claritas for included sectors by MSA. The Index was constructed from the proportion of local retail sales not captured by the major chains. An Index of 100 represents the national average. Index scores above 100 represent healthier independent retail markets while scores below 100 represent the more chain-dominated markets.
Here are the top 10 cities:
1. Ocean City, NJ 147.7
2. Bellingham, WA 139.5
3. Medford, OR 138.7
4. Carson City, NV 137.1
5. San Jose, CA 137.0
6. Barnstable Town, MA 135.6
7. Austin, TX 134.2
8. Dalton, GA 129.9
9. Harrisonburg, WV 129.4
10. Gainesville, GA 129.3
Our region is South Atlantic Region. Pensacola didn’t make the Top 10 in that region (rank, name, index):
8 Dalton, GA 129.9
9 Harrisonburg, VA 129.4
10 Gainesville, GA 129.3
24 Valdosta, GA 122.7
39 Dover, DE 117.2
42 Naples-Marco Island, FL 116.5
53 Asheville, NC 113.8
66 Winchester, VA-WV 111.5
77 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 109.8
83 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 108.9
Our neighbors to the west are in the South Central and they fared much better:
35 Gulfport-Biloxi, MS 118.6
49 Huntsville, AL 114.7
51 Pascagoula, MS 114.3
52 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 114.1
54 Tuscaloosa, AL 113.5
79 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 109.6
82 Morristown, TN 109.0
88 Mobile, AL 108.0
97 Lexington-Fayette, KY 106.1
99 Chattanooga, TN-GA 105.9
What is the Pensacola ranking?
#296 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Index: 80.1 27.9 points below Mobile area; 34.2 below Pascagoula; 38.5 below Gulfport
Panama City?
# 249 Panama City-Lynn Haven, FL Index: 87.3