Redistribution of Retail Sales within Minnesota from 1990 to 2007

Abstract

There is a perception that an increasing amount of retail stores are disappearing from less populated rural counties. But this raises the question about where these purchases are now being made. Is another local store increasing its sales or are a majority of the purchases being transferred to regional centers like Mankato, Rochester, Saint Cloud, and Moorhead? Are the smaller centers like Marshall, Alexandria, and Willmar the beneficiaries of small town store closures? This poster will show the analysis of how retail sales have been redistributed within Minnesota from 1990 to 2007. We will use data provided by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and other sources to show the changes in the number of businesses, total sales, and per capita sales in Minnesota counties. We will also show the various rates of changes during this time period. This base data will be useful as we measure the success of economic development programs that are conducted in rural Minnesota.