These strategies will be designed to attract shoppers to a vital and healthy downtown, grow customer bases, create jobs, and realize optimum sales, each adding to the local economy. A vibrant downtown is an exciting amalgam of businesses, retail establishments, diverse housing units, civic and social organizations, and government, all sharing a common vision, achieving individual and community goals, and able to produce at maximum capacity. Downtown is created as the place where people want to be. Furthermore, destination retail would increase, giving Portland s downtown the power to draw shoppers, workers, entertainment seekers, and more businesses to it. The demand for cultural and entertainment amenities would increase, and most importantly, more jobs would be created which in turn would help to continue economic growth and vitality on all fronts.
Independent retail is defined as stores that are locally-owned or locally controlled.
For purposes of this study, retail includes eating and drinking establishments. Future projections, based on the income of residents and spending characteristics of visitors, indicate that significant additional sales could be captured in the short and long term by existing retail businesses. The report recommended that the City look at destination retail as a primary means to capture market share. They also expressed concern for the future of independent businesses in the retail core and offered to participate in the continuing study of the downtown retail market. It has been the mix of retail that has set Portland apart from other cities, and for that reason, visitors and shoppers are attracted to downtown Portland.