OLDS — A survey to determine gaps in business services in Olds has determined that there’s lots of room to grow.
The retail gap survey, commissioned by the Town of Olds and conducted by FBM Planning Ltd., found that the regional trade area of Olds extends beyond its immediate town boundaries.
It attracts 45,000 to 50,000 consumers from the region and the number of those consumers is expected to continue to grow.
The survey found that retail spending is projected to increase from $696 million in 2024 to $893 million by 2034.
It also determined that there’s currently about 800,000 square feet of retail space in Olds.
“Compared to the town’s population of 9,720, this signals strong market demand and reinforces the town’s role as a regional shopping hub,” a town news release about the survey says.
The survey determined that there’s strong demand in sectors such as grocery, home and garden, fashion, and dining.
It says to meet the demand, Olds will need another 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of retail space by 2034.
It’s believed that seven to 10 acres of new commercial land will be needed.
“At the end of the day, the strategy is really good news,” the municipality's economic development officer, Sandra Blyth, told council during the Feb. 24 meeting as the report was unveiled.
“There's lots of room for growth, for retail and all commercial (opportunities) nodes that we have. Projections are really good, so there's lots of opportunity here.”
Blyth said it’s projected that due to anticipated population growth, by 2034 “we could be looking at $893 million in retail spending.”
It was noted that there’s lots of interest for developing and locating businesses along Highway 27 west, but Blyth said there are opportunities for that along Highway 27 east as well as other areas of town.
She and chief administrative officer Brent Williams said a key way to provide more customers for the Uptowne area is to develop housing there. Olds College students were cited as one demographic that could benefit from that.
“Businesses need more customers to shop at their business and the town can't force people to shop locally, we can't force people from other communities to come here,” Williams said during the meeting.
“But we can enable developers to build housing close to these businesses, and that really is what the report tells us, what we thought we already knew, that you have to densify your downtown.”
Williams said the report identifies corporations Town of Olds officials could court, based on other retail markets the size of Olds.
He declined to name them, except for two: the Brick, which is already in Olds, and Peavey Mart, which Williams said was being pursued until it recently shut down all of its stores.
“The difficulty is, even though we want to engage directly with corporations -- and we do -- we want to be very cognizant that we're not trying to pick winners, I guess is the term, because any business we bring in is going to have competition locally, so we want to make sure the market makes that decision,” Williams said.
“This report is a great third party assessment that (says) our current economy could handle a second X store, for instance. That's why particular names weren't mentioned in this presentation.
“But in the report, there are several dozen potential businesses we could focus (on).”
Blyth said via social media and through several videos that have been made, the town is marketing the community as a great place do to business.
She said the town’s work with the central Alberta first strategy as well as the Business Retention, Expansion, and Workforce Development (BREWD) survey are also part of that effort.
Williams said also as part of its business and housing strategy, in the future, the town will be reviewing its residential and commercial tax incentives and possibly combining them into one bylaw.
He noted that the town is now advertising a lot it owns in the southeast industrial park and other announcements will soon be made in a similar vein.
In addition, a housing strategy will be unveiled, possibly in late March.
Williams said the town is looking to partner with landowners who have a lot of really valuable, very serviceable real estate.
That includes potentially hooking them up with prospective developers and buyers of that land that have indicated to the town interest in developing or buying property.
Coun. Darren Wilson said although there are some new businesses in town, the community really does need to attract some big employers, especially given the loss of major taxpayers and employers like SNDL in the last few years.
“(It) just seems to be moving sideways from an economic development perspective, rather than taking some leaps and bounds and certainly replacing some ground,” Wilson said.
Storefront improvement program launched
A Mountain View Power storefront program to help spruce up local business was also introduced during the council meeting.
Through that program, Mountain View Power plans to provide a $20,000 fund to support facade improvements in the uptowne Olds area.
“The idea is really simple, eligible improvements that help promote an engaging and inviting environment will be eligible for up to a $3,000 grant,” community services director Guy Lapointe told council.
Eligible expenses may include painting awnings, lighting and windows, among other things.
Applications will be accepted through April 1.
Coun. Wanda Blatz asked if the storefront program will run annually and be expanded.
Lapointe said at the moment, it’s a pilot program. But if it proves successful, town officials will look at making it an annual one.
Coun. Heather Ryan recommended that if the program proves successful in Uptowne, it be extended beyond Uptowne to businesses in other parts of the community, because she said those businesses too could benefit from it.
“I think it's a great idea as a pilot project to start something simple like this in a restricted area, so we know how it can work and how it can't work,” Coun. James Cummings said.
He recommended encouraging the installment of “pedestrian-friendly” signage; signs that are at eye level. Cummings said such signs are already in place in other communities.
