New data compiled to help Grand Forks-area retailers understand their customers better also reveals idiosyncrasies about the consumer in all of us.
Did you know we're 139 percent more likely to watch the PBS program "Nova" than the average American? And yet, we're also 75 percent more likely to watch the crude Fox cartoon "Family Guy."
Maybe being a college town has something to do with it. Professors watch one thing and the college students another thing, and maybe some of us like a little of both.
The Chamber of Commerce, which helped pay for the massive $55,000 retail report, is unveiling it at 1:30 p.m. Friday in City Hall. The Convention and Visitors Bureau and the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks also paid for the report, compiled by Fort Worth, Texas, retail consulting firm Buxton Inc.
The main goal, according to Chamber President Barry Wilfahrt, is to help existing retailers attract more shoppers and reduce the "leakage" of shoppers to other cities, such as Fargo. A secondary goal is to help attract new retailers that the area might be missing, he said.
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The data, which comes out of Buxton's massive consumer database, is able to zero in on specifics of area consumers' spending, such as their preference for a certain kind of Pampers diapers. And, with that, it's also able to develop a profile of the groups of consumers found in the area and match that against the profile of various stores and restaurants.
The unveiling is just the start, Wilfahrt said. Chamber task forces, and no doubt area retailers and mall managers, will be poring over the data for months to come to develop retail strategies, he said.
This isn't just a study that's going to sit on the shelf and gather dust, he said, it'll be used.
For the non-retailers, the data is an interesting glimpse at what we do with our money and our time. Watch for more coverage in Saturday's Herald -- like how much we seriously dig Easy Cheese.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
