La Jolla Village Merchants Association (LJVMA) is going full throttle in conducting an online and in-person business survey to determine what types of businesses and services residents need and want.
Elsie Arredondo, chair of LJVMA’s Economic Development Division, noted economic development, a separate arm of the merchant’s group, felt it was time to re-survey residents and other stakeholders to ensure the Business Improvement District (BID) is attracting the right kinds of businesses and services to the downtown Village.
“We’re working to create a packet of information for new businesses, and our real estate brokers, to get some idea of what types of businesses may thrive in the Village,” said Arredondo. “Our second goal is then to actively work with a focus on trying to get the businesses people want in this area.”
Sheila Fortune, LJVMA’s executive director, said the new business survey is integral to the BID’s plans to aid merchants in the community moving forward.
“The Economic Development Committee is formulating data to provide to our commercial real estate owners and commercial brokers in an effort to bring the retail, restaurant and night-life mix that residents, tourists and merchants feel is missing in the Village,” said Fortune. “We are also working to educate real estate owners that might not have family or a long-term business history here, to understand how the retail mix is oversaturated with several business types, which leads to a continuous turnover of open commercial space.”
Arredondo said a previous business survey in 2015 of about 100 local residents out of 4,000 sent out will serve as a baseline for the new survey updating information gathered then.
Talking about objectives of the new survey, Arredondo said, “We’re really looking for night-life opportunities, reasons to stay in the Village. We want to have qualitative, quantifiable data to work with to do things to help our businesses thrive.”
Business surveys were being conducted online and in-person as well, as LJVMA planned to have tables with surveys available set up outside strategic spots on a couple different weekends in the Village to solicit public input.
The survey is being undertaken now through Aug. 31.
“Once we gather the information, we’ll put this together into a presentation,” said Arredondo adding the next step after that will be to “start soliciting businesses that meet this criteria through our real estate partners.”
Anyone wishing to take the business survey online can do so at lajollabythesea.com.