Retail activity on the nation’s main streets

Retail activity on the nation’s main streets continues its upward trend, according to a survey by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Center. More than 400 communities in 36 states responded to the annual Main Street Trends Survey’s questions about economic indicators such as property values, occupancy rates, and the number of locally owned businesses. More than 58 percent of respondents reported an increase in the overall number of retail businesses, and 48 percent reported an increase in the number of locally owned businesses. In small towns, the greatest growth was in upper-floor occupancies and in the number of restaurants and professional offices. In urban districts, ground-floor occupancies, attendance at downtown events, and numbers of independently owned businesses saw the greatest increases. Eighty-four percent of the communities reported that Internet usage was a key factor in the growth of small businesses. The Main Street Center notes that the Internet helps small-town business reach beyond their local market which is often saturated by superstores. The full text of the report is available at www.mainst.org.