The City of Lacombe has released a report outlining the results of the retail survey that ran from June through August.
The purpose of the survey was to better understand Lacombe’s retail trade area, which refers to the geographic area from which a community generates the majority of its customers.
This area can also be referred to as the market area or customer catchment area.
“We were extremely pleased that over 1,000 responses to the survey were received, with approximately 22 per cent of responses coming from people who live outside of Lacombe,” said Planning and Development Manager Lyla Peter.
“We hope to release the raw data (open source data) to allow others to review the findings. However, this requires the City to review the data to ensure no personal information is in the data prior to release.”
Key findings include:
- 61% of those surveyed were between the ages of 31 and 55.
- 78 % of respondents live in Lacombe.
- 64% of people surveyed spend over $500 per month on retail purchases/groceries.
- 17 % spend over $500 per month in Lacombe on retail purchases/groceries.
- respondents between the ages of 31 – 39 have the highest average monthly spending on retail/groceries.
- 95.4% of all respondents purchase clothing and clothing accessories primarily outside of Lacombe.
- 86.7% of respondents said their decision to shop elsewhere is due to there being more selection elsewhere.
- only 9.4% of respondents said they shopped elsewhere because of lack of parking.
- approximately 77% of people surveyed spend $250 or less dining out per month.
The full Retail Survey Summary Report can be found at www.lacombe.ca/retailsurvey.
“The results will help the City better understand future demand for commercial land based on current patterns and future growth,” said Peter. “Businesses will also have an opportunity to review the findings and identify data to help them in making business decisions.”
The survey results will also be used to help inform and update the Municipal Development Plan (MDP): Growing Lacombe.
A public survey is also being conducted on the goals for the MDP, and participants have a chance to win $100 prize to use at a local business.
The survey can be accessed at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LacombeMDPupdate.
-Vossen