Exploring urban retailing and CBD revitalization strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory examination of urban retail marketing and management strategies employed in six US cities with reputations for having central business districts (CBD) that are either flourishing or developing. It also investigates the roles played by urban retailers in working with CBD revitalization efforts. Design/methodology/approach – Depth interviews were conducted with economic development managers and urban retailer owners/managers from each CBD. Content analysis, preceded by a comprehensive review of academic and trade literature, was used to identify key concepts. An iterative coding process resulted in identifying broad strategic themes and related strategies. Findings – Strategies were classified into three urban retailing and five economic revitalization themes. These strategies varied depending on whether cities had flourishing or developing CBDs. Research limitations/implications – The study provided a systematic and comprehensive examination of strategies that may guide theory development and provide practical information on CBD redevelopment. Potential bias in results should be considered when evaluating results due to the use of qualitative methods and convenience sampling. Originality/value – Information concerning similarities in the redevelopment efforts of six comparable US cities is provided.