Westchester recently enabled the assistance of Texas-based retail analysis group Buxton as part of a master plan to revitalize business in the village.

“We’re excited to begin working with the village in arming them with the information they need to continue in their proactive approach,” Assistant Vice President of Buxton’s community ID division, Matt Montgomery said.

At a cost of $70,000, all of which is covered by a grant, Village Manager Carl Goldsmith said the analysis group is looking at three areas and will eventually narrow it down to one to focus on and determine what type of buisness would do best and what shoppers would utilize.

“We received a grant for corridor studies and we will be utilizing that grant to fund this project,” Goldsmith said.

Montgomery said the process will take 90 to 120 days to collect data specific to Westchester and provide the Village Board with its results.

During the analytical process, Buxton looks at everything from the type of customer transactions in the area to drive-times from homes to retail centers in what they call “psychographic data,” in order to best understand the consumer’s behavior. 

“Westchester wants to have more of a say in what specific retail and restaurants are suitable for attraction to the community ... what is real, what is supportable,” Montgomery said. “We’re getting into the science to let Westchester understand what’s viable.”

The Village Board voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Buxton at the Aug. 28 meeting.

“One thing this will allow us to do is get a better understanding of the market place in Westchester and help us identify potential retailers and business groups that will assist our community in part of the redevelopment effort and allow us to target those people with the information we have in hand,” Goldsmith said.