Trade: Wholesale and Retail

The industries described in this segment relate to the wholesale and retail sectors of the economy. The type of facilities in this grouping can vary from clothing and clothing accessories stores, to motor vehicles and parts dealers, to food and beverage stores. These occupations are popular among all areas and are vital components in boosting the economy. The Lower Eastern Shore region has various retail stores and sectors, but expanding these offerings would allow them to employ more people. This would stimulate economic growth in the area by creating a ripple effect in the form of vendor payments, real estate vacancy rate reduction, fiscal impacts, etc.

From 2014 to 2016, the number of retail establishments remained relatively the same, with only the occasional decrease in certain subsectors. The number of paid employees mimicked that trend by remaining relatively the same with the occasional decrease in subsectors. This was further reflected in the number of establishments. The subsector seeing the greatest decrease in the number of establishments and paid employees was electronics and appliance stores. The Lower Eastern Shore had a total of 37 electronics and appliance stores with around 229 paid employees in 2014, but dropped to 26 establishments with around 187 paid employees by 2016. These findings can in part be attributed to the rise in online retail outlets.

The demographic classification of business owners also changed from 2007 to 2012. In Somerset and Wicomico County there was an increase in female owned firms, with an additional 3 and 19 female owned firms respectively from 2007 to 2012. However, in that same time span there was a decrease of 59 female owned firms in Worcester County. In addition, Wicomico County saw an additional 152 veteran owned firms from 2007 to 2012, while Somerset and Worcester County remained the same in number of veteran owned firms.

Looking forward, there remains a variety of ways for trade based industries to stimulate growth. Of concern is the growing popularity and trend towards ecommerce shopping compared to brick and mortar retailers. Big box stores should aim toward providing experiences (an added value) to attract people to shop at retail stores instead of online. Retail stores should also use technology to help impact direct sales and attract customers. Two ways technology can help business owners implement these strategies is by using online outlets to help encourage in‐person shopping and using “ShopBots” to influence consumer behavior. These techniques can be used to discover consumer behavior and trends, allowing business owners to offer items and products that customers want to buy.

Some of the issues affecting industry growth in the trade sector are seasonality and infrastructure. Many persons lack a post‐secondary education, resulting in lower disposal income to spend in the trade industry. In addition, there is insufficient infrastructure to promote the growth of the trade industry. Though the region boasts ample land and open space large investment is required to start the process of creating new infrastructure. On the other hand, redevelopment and upgrading of existing trade industry infrastructure would promote economic growth in this area.