The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce has had a long standing policy of not recruiting individual retailers of any size to our area.

The Chamber will respond to inquiries of retailers who ask about our market or who want to be put in touch with local developers or realtors to help them find retail space, but the Chamber does not actively recruit retailers.

Following their Own Directives
Retailers are fairly sophisticated these days and monitor demographics, market changes, and product demand on a monthly or quarterly basis. They make their decisions to come to Manhattan based on the size and growth of a community and what other competition is in the marketplace.

As retailers will tell you, they like to find those places that have lots of “new roof tops.” That means the population is growing and there is opportunity for their retail business to succeed.

Retailers are coming to Manhattan – not because of Chamber recruitment efforts but because of population growth.