Retail recruitment is about more than attracting stores. It’s about understanding what makes a community unique and creating places where businesses and residents can thrive.

Economic development professionals, city leaders, and retail industry professionals gathered in Acworth for ECG’s Annual Retail Roundtable at Tap Town to discuss emerging retail trends, redevelopment opportunities, and partnerships that help communities thrive.

Centered on the theme “How to Pitch Your Community,” the event featured insights from our Retail-Commercial Development Manager, Daniel Martin; City of Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood; Jay Clark, founder of Tap Town; and Catie Whorton, VP at Perform Properties.

The setting itself served as a case study. Tap Town was a fitting backdrop for discussions on community vision, entrepreneurship, retail recruitment, and redevelopment. From Acworth’s long-term commitment to quality-of-life investments to the entrepreneurial journey behind Tap Town to the evolving trends shaping retail site selection, attendees experienced firsthand how vision, partnerships, and investment intersect to create destinations and build communities where people want to live, work, and spend time.

Building a Destination Through Purpose-Driven Partnerships

Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood opened the program by sharing the city’s transformation over the last 25 years. His message focused on a simple but powerful idea: communities do not become destinations by accident.

He reflected on how Acworth moved from flea markets, aging housing stock, and underutilized properties to a community known for parks, mixed-use development, tourism, business growth, and quality-of-life investments. Throughout that journey, the city intentionally recruited what he called “purpose-driven partners” who shared a vision for the community’s future.

“Vision is the ability to look into the future and see things the way you want them to be,” Mayor Tommy Allegood.

He emphasized that successful economic development begins with a clear vision and a willingness to proactively recruit the people, businesses, and organizations that can help bring that vision to life. He also stressed the importance of making communities easy to do business in, reducing unnecessary barriers, and building relationships that encourage long-term investment.

From Concept to Opening: The Story Behind TapTown

Few stories illustrated those ideas better than the journey of Jay Clark, founder of TapTown.

Clark shared the behind-the-scenes story of how a vision first conceived in 2018 eventually became one of Acworth’s newest gathering places. What attendees heard was not a story about opening a restaurant. It was a story about passion, vision, and perseverance. Between COVID-19 challenges, financing setbacks, shifting partnerships, and years of uncertainty, the road to opening took far longer than expected. Yet the original vision remained unchanged.

His experience also highlighted the critical role city leadership plays in supporting entrepreneurs and investment opportunities through collaboration, flexibility and shared goals.

“Sometimes the most important thing someone can give you is not money. It’s belief,” Jay Clark, Tap Town Owner.

Throughout his presentation, Clark reminded attendees that economic development is ultimately about people. He spoke about creating spaces where people build relationships, families gather, and communities connect. His story underscored the importance of believing in a vision long before anyone else can see the finished product.

“I realized that what I really wanted to create wasn’t a place that served coffee, food, or drinks. I wanted to create a place where people could gather.”

The View from the Landlord

The fireside chat featured ECG’s Daniel Martin and Catie Whorton of Perform Properties, who oversees retail leasing across Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, and Texas. Their discussion provided attendees with a candid look at what’s happening in today’s retail real estate market.

Whorton explained that retailers continue to show strong interest in expanding throughout the Southeast, but available space remains limited. In fact, she described today’s environment as the strongest landlord market of her career, driven by high occupancy rates and continued retail demand.

The conversation highlighted several trends communities should pay attention to:

• Increased demand for quality retail space and redevelopment opportunities
• Continued growth among quick-service restaurants, coffee concepts and fitness operators
• The importance of local ownership and operators who are invested in their communities
• Growing interest in creative redevelopment strategies for aging retail centers
• The need for municipalities to be responsive partners throughout the development process

One of the most consistent themes throughout the conversation was the value of collaboration.

“The strongest operators I’ve seen are the ones that are locally owned and operated, where there is more care about being in the community.”

Whorton noted that communities that communicate clearly, provide accessible information and proactively engage property owners often position themselves more competitively for future investment.

Continuing the Conversation

We sincerely appreciate our gracious hosts, economic development partners, speakers, and everyone who attended and contributed to the day’s discussions. The conversations sparked during the Retail Roundtable don’t end here, and we look forward to continuing to support our ECG communities across Georgia as they pursue new growth and investment opportunities.

What attendees had to say…

“All speakers were informative from different perspectives. Really liked the variety.”

“It was eye-opening how much TapTown had to go through and how long it took to get the business opened. Until this meeting, I felt like our town was the only one.”

“This was the first ECG event I have been to, and I was very impressed. I think the information presented was valuable, and the networking could have been great if I did not have to leave early. Thank you for putting this event on.”

We sincerely appreciate our gracious hosts, economic development partners, speakers, and everyone who attended and contributed to the day’s discussions. The conversations sparked during the Retail Roundtable don’t end here, and we look forward to continuing to support our ECG communities across Georgia as they pursue new growth and investment opportunities.