“What are people looking for and what don’t we have downtown?”
The codes are the brainchild of Richard App, a retail retention and attraction specialist for Grand Rapids.
“What if we just do something that’s as obvious as anything you can do and say, ‘What do you want here?’”
Scanning a code hanging in one of 12 empty storefront windows throughout downtown will bring up a survey on your phone, asking for your opinion on what you’d like to see as the next business occupying that building.
“And then what we’re going to do with that information is we’re going to share it with the building owners, with the brokers that work downtown, with the property managers.”
App works in conjunction with the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. and the city. He says the retail occupancy rate for downtown Grand Rapids sits around 84%.
“My hope is that we have success on this and that this is a different way of kind of helping fill spaces moving forward.”
App says he plans to share data with the public as more is collected. There is no timeline for how long the campaign will last.
