City Moves Aggressively To Recruit Wider Range of Stores
With the success of our recent downtown revitalization efforts, New Rochelle now has a significant opportunity to attract a wider range of quality retailers to our central business district. The City Council discussed this month a retail initiative, which would blend market analysis with an assessment of the City’s physical and demographic assets. Working with the Business Improvement District and the Chamber of Commerce, we intend to retain a professional retail consultant to develop an action plan for expanding our retail base to provide expanded choices to shoppers. I am determined that the product of this effort be highly specific, so that it can be implemented swiftly — we don’t need a report that states the obvious and then gathers dust on a shelf. This initiative will permit the City to engage more constructively with developers and property owners in discussions about retail tenants, and permit us also to “brand” New Rochelle in a manner that benefits and attracts unique, smaller stores. The full text of a staff memo on this subject can be viewed HERE. The overall reaction of the Council to this initiative was very positive.