COURTESY OF MKCOMMUNICATIONS

CHICAGO (November 8, 2013) – A team of researchers are offering Chicago residents an opportunity to give their opinion on how to improve shopping options in their neighborhood.  Chicago TREND (Transforming Retail Economics of Neighborhood Development) is seeking participants for an one-of-a-kind, state of the art project that will collect unique data to provide a new, much more accurate picture of how neighborhoods are changing, where retail opportunities are, where people are likely to shop or move and outline specific opportunities for retail development to help drive neighborhood change.
 
The action-oriented research study, which can be completed online only in English or Spanish at http://trend.surveyanalytics.com/,  seeks to provide new resources to economic developers to more accurately assess and predict retail opportunity within different Chicago communities. Data collected through the survey will be used to configure models that work to explain neighborhood and shopper choice.
 
Researchers are currently engaging neighborhood leaders, retailers and developers in refining their approach and are now looking to gain insight from community members on their latest shopping experience to assist researchers understand how and where Chicagoans shop, how far they travel and what they look for when shopping at various stores. Researchers will use the valuable data to identify areas for improved retail options in Chicago’s neighborhoods.
 
Participants will remain anonymous and data provided will be used only for research purposes. Respondents can sign up to win Amazon.com gift cards.
 
Through this study, Chicago TREND will develop a dynamic view of the retail landscape across Chicago by creating a rich citywide database that captures business and neighborhood characteristics and trends, as well as new data on shopper behavior. All data will eventually help retailers make smarter investment decisions which in turn will drive positive neighborhood change.
 
Chicago TREND is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.