The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce is making a major move in re-branding retail efforts in the city. The Chamber met with business owners in the Upper Valley Mall and Bechtle Avenue strip mall areas and decided to rename the entire shopping destination, the 41 Crossing.
Chamber president Mike McDorman says renaming the area 41 Crossing will allow the retail stores and restaurants to become a shopping destination that will rival the Greene in Beavercreek and Outlet Mall in Jeffersonville.
McDorman says the idea came from the Buy Springfield campaign, where local businesses teamed up to promote Springfield businesses as one to consumers.
The Buy Springfield campaign says spending $100 at a Springfield-area business pumps $68 into the community, while spending $100 at a big box retailer such as Target still brings $43.
The next step in the 41 Crossing re-branding is to develop signage. McDorman says the total re-branding effort could cost $10,000. He says the effort will be worth it because not only will the re-branding serve to drive traffic to the area, it could help developers market properties to businesses.
While Bechtle Avenue is one of the busiest traffic areas in Springfield and the Upper Valley Mall is the largest generator of sales tax, McDorman says they have not been marketed as well as they can be.
The Chamber and business owners feel that branding these two major shopping and dining areas as one unified shopping destination will make a significant difference in drawing consumers to the 41 Crossing area.