News : Second retail meeting focuses on ways to improve Vinton sales numbers

Local business leaders review charts showing the retail condition of Vinton.

The first retail meeting with Meghan O'Brien focused on the good news about Vinton, its relatively strong downtown retail climate, its pull factor which is higher than Benton County's or and the average pull factor of cities of similar size.

But Don Eels wants Vinton leaders and retailers to think about the bad news, and look for ways to improve the retail economy in Vinton.

That's why he organized a second meeting on the topic, held last Friday at City Hall.

Vinton, said Eells, is 75th on the list of 100 Iowa communities that are seeing a decline in retail sales. He wants to get Vinton on the other list, the list of 100 cities with growing retail figures.

"There is a lot to be positive about," Eells told the group. "But there are some things the business community needs to take a look at."

Eells told the group he moved back to the Vinton area because he loves the town. But, he added, the economic data show a long, slow decline in Vinton retail activity.

The group had a long discussion about several specific issues. There is currently a discussion among downtown store owners about whether or not to start keeping the businesses open for a few hours on Sunday.

With approximately 50 percent of Vinton residents working in other cities, most of those people are not back home until many stores are closed. That leaves only Saturdays and Thursday nights for them to shop in Vinton.

But on the other hand, many store owners say that Sunday is one of the few times per week they do not have to mind their stores.

Dave Wessling, however, told the group that the most important chart about Vinton's economy is the page that shows the city's population. He said the long-term solution is to find ways to bring more businesses to town, so there will be more people living in Vinton, and thus more people to shop downtown.

The participants left the meeting agreeing to continue studying the retail issues.