Retail Recruitment Hits the Road

First of all, thanks for reading. We hope to give you a little glimpse of what it is like to work a large trade show with this blog (That’s right, buckle up kids! We’re in for a wild ride!), as well as a little insight on why we’re here trying to recruit retail. If I had one word to describe it though, I’d say “leakage.” That’s right. Tall or small, young or old, if you’re a resident of Oklahoma City, it’s a problem, though you may not even be aware of it. And no, we’re not talking about a continence issue. In addition to recruiting primary jobs and visitor spending, we at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber also work with the City to bring destination, impact retail into the market to prevent sales tax “leakage." Keeping sales tax dollars in-market and bringing in more dollars from outside the market is a critical component to the City’s fiscal health, but is also important from a Quality-of-Life and image / outside perception standpoint. So that’s why we’re going to Vegas to attend the ICSC’s RECon Retail Real Estate Convention - to recruit these types of retailers.

So yes, we are going to Vegas! But don’t get too excited for us. We’re not staying in the “real” Caesar’s Palace or anything. But we are here for six nights. I know, your initial reaction might be, “Wow, six nights in Las Vegas! How amazing! You would even have time to go see the Hoover Dam and maybe meet those ‘Pawn Stars’ guys!” But then after ruminating on this idea a few moments, your second thought might well be, “Wow, six nights in Las Vegas… I’m not sure that is recommended, nor even survivable.” But we have learned some tricks that help. When you have to be in Vegas for this duration, you tend to want to maintain some sense of attachment to the actual world, so we usually stay at The Signature at MGM Grand. For those of you unfamiliar, The Signature consists of three condo/hotel towers that are connected via climate-controlled walkway to the rest of the MGM complex. Basically, it is one of the few places on the strip that you can stay where there’s not a casino under you. If, like Regina Phalange, you’re a businessperson in town on business for an extended period and don't want to lose your mind to the point where you may forgetfully leave your Filofax in Conference Room B, we’ve found that the lack of exposure to the typical constant dinging / binging noises, questionable fashion choices, unbridled displays of conspicuous consumption and avarice, and billows of smoke in the lobby really helps maintain some tiny shred of sanity and sense of reality that is otherwise hard to accomplish when you’re in Vegas.

The other good thing about being connected to the MGM is that there is an easily-accessible monorail stop here. We use the monorail as much as possible (A: because taxis are expensive, and B: because it is HOT), and it is great for getting from the hotel to the Las Vegas Convention Center where RECon is held every year. It is very pleasant to ride, but will get crowded by Monday with retailers, developers, real estate folks and others dressed to the nines (regardless of the 100-degree heat). As for us at the Chamber, we have 35 meetings set up with prospective retailers and developers this year, so we’re looking forward to a busy show.

Here's what a convention center looks like before a show starts:

We arrived this morning and hoped to begin building our 1200-square-foot booth. Unfortunately our freight was late so this is what our booth looks like right now. It takes quite a few man-hours to set this thing up, so I’ll report back later, but wish us luck!