Surviving the Retail Apocalypse: Charting the Future of Retail in Ramsey

Abstract

This project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The City of Ramsey has long had a goal to create destinations in the community for residents to shop, eat, and enjoy entertainment. Market forces make achieving this goal challenging, and current efforts have fallen short of meeting community expectations. To help the City identify economic development and marketing strategies to attract more retail and restaurant development, students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s Land Use Planning analyzed retail trends nationally, mapped retail development in surrounding communities within a short driving distance from Ramsey, analyzed Ramsey's demographics to identify a target retail market, proposed a branding strategy to create a unique retail "identity," analyzed the challenges and opportunities presented by currently zoned commercial properties in the city, and recommended policy and other changes to facilitate future development of retail. The students' final report is available.