THE central business district of Cape Town is fighting back, not only to stem the outflow of businesses relocating to decentralised areas like Claremont, Century City and Tygerberg, but also to position itself internationally as a prime business destination.
Last month saw the planned formation of a CBD Retailer Association. Cape Town Partnership CEO Michael Farr says there were four previous attempts to get a retailers association going, but this time around 'its going to be for real', he says.
To position Cape Town even better internationally, Cape Town Partnership, the Unicity, Wesgro and other tourism authorities are coming together in Team Cape Town to try and position it alongside such cities as Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne, Sydney and Vancouver, says Farr.
To this end it will, for the first time, try and achieve the ranking according to the Arthur Anderson model of preferred cities to do business in, employing such yardsticks as the quality of the local workforce, business environment, quality of life and the cost of doing business. The UCT's Unilever Marketing Institute will undertake the groundwork.
The Cape Town Partnership's efforts to brand and market the city of Cape Town, both nationally and internationally, in accordance with international best practice, includes a plan to promote the city as a prime retail destination, with increased involvement and participation from the small business sector and the right mix of tenants.
To that end, and with the involvement of the Central City Improvement District, a Retailers' Association will be established shortly, with the compilation of a comprehensive database, which contains details of all retail facilities in the central city, being one of the first steps towards forming such a body.
The information gathering process, is being conducted by researchers Douglas Parker and Associates who will be calling on retailers throughout the central city to collect data such as type of business, store ownership, merchandise mix and the like.
Says Farr: "Information on retailers occupying the central city is important for informing our marketing and branding exercise, as it will put us in a better position to accurately identify those assets which differentiate Cape Town from other South African cities."
The Partnership sees the primary objectives of the Retailers' Association to be a body which acts in the interest of promoting trade in the Cape Town central city and promotes small business growth as well as the retail product offering in the CBD.
Importantly, the Retailers' Association will be a body which communicates retailers' interests and concerns directly to the Partnership and the City of Cape Town.