Carpentersville hires outside firm to recruit businesses

Carpentersville is hiring an Alabama firm to recruit businesses - particularly big-box retailers - to fill the village's empty storefronts.

Despite seeing significant economic growth last year from new projects such as the Wal-Mart Supercenter, the village has struggled to pin down tenants for several prominent retail properties that have been vacant or underutilized for years, said Patrick Burke, economic development director.

In turn, he said, staff members have been searching for an outside recruiter to give the village a competitive edge in filling those spaces, which include the shuttered Dominick's building on Randall Road and the Huntley Square Shopping Center at Route 31 and Huntley Road.

The village board on Tuesday unanimously approved a one-year, $50,000 deal with Retail Strategies LLC to provide marketing services, conduct trade area and retail gap analyses, and catalog available sites in the village.

The firm would then develop a list of retailers they believe would be most appropriate for Carpentersville and actively recruit those businesses, Burke said.

"They'd be bringing industry knowledge to help us with our long-term vacant buildings," he said. "But they could also help our existing property owners ... with the same type of leads and with market data that property owners may not have."

Unlike several other firms being considered, Burke added, Retail Strategies would also represent Carpentersville at all International Council of Shopping Centers trade shows.

The agreement has two one-year extension options that would cost the village $30,000 per year. Retail Strategies also represents Plainfield, Charleston and other Illinois municipalities.

If the company is successful in bringing even one more big-box retailer to Carpentersville, the amount of sales tax revenue generated from that business could quickly offset the cost of hiring a recruitment firm, trustees said.

"This isn't just like we're writing a check and we're not going to get anything in return," Trustee Pat Schultz said. "It'll pay for itself."

Because of its location on one of the village's largest corridors, Trustee Kevin Rehberg said, the former Dominick's site, which has been empty since 2011, is especially in need of extra attention. An investment company purchased the property last year and has been working with the village to market it for retailers of all sizes and categories, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

"This firm will have the expertise and the database capabilities to be able to splice together a truer picture of the footprint around Dominick's and be able to get that out to prospective businesses," Rehberg said. "That'll be much more valuable."