BY JOHN REED LEADER EDITOR
KNOX — A Fort Worth, Texas firm, Buxton, last week outlined to the mayor and city council how they could help Knox bring new stores and restaurants to the community.
“We identify and target retailers who could be a good fit for Knox,” Buxton Assistant Vice President Matthew Montgomery told the council. “We match specific retailers and restaurants to the community.”
Montgomery explained that the firm uses a combination of factors such as drive time, local demographics, customer buying habits and more to profile businesses that would be interested in the community.

Buxton buys data which identify customer buying patterns. “If you buy a head of lettuce, a six-pack of Coke — when you swipe your grocery card — that data tells us what you want,” he said.
As for drive time, “You get citizens coming from all over the area to shop here, a 5, 10, 15 mile radius. It’s not just how close they live, but the drive time.”
Montgomery said there are many firms which target smaller communities. Even major corporations could be interested.
“If a retailer wants to grow, they must either open new locations or go through merger and acquisition.” Some national chains are now looking at smaller-scale versions of their shops which could fit in smaller communities, he said.
The firm also combines their demographic information with profiles of similar size cities.
Knox officials first became aware of Buxton’s program from a presentation at an Indiana Association of Cities and Towns conference. There, Montgomery discussed how the company helped the city of Marion develop retail property and attract stores.
The firm also is working with South Bend and has just helped that community attract four new stores to the southside shopping area.
Montgomery did not name specific stores he thought would be interested in Knox. “We do site selection for more than 1,200 firms across the U.S.,” and have contacts with more than 5,000 businesses, he said. Their client list includes such companies as Bass Pro Shops, Dollar Tree, Lowes, BigLots, Cracker Barrel, Sonic Drive-In and many others.