The Colorado town of Erie, for one, considers RECon the centerpiece of its retail recruitment campaign, says A.J. Krieger, administrator for the town, which lies just northeast of the Denver-Boulder corridor. Erie’s population has spiked by about 8,000 residents, to 25,000, over the past five years, and the city has been attending RECon for about that same length of time. Attracting more retail development corresponds with Erie’s push to diversify its revenue sources, which until 2011 comprised primarily property taxes and building-permit fees. That effort increased annual sales-tax revenue to $8.5 million in 2017, from $3.3 million in 2012. Among other deals, Krieger says that a meeting at RECon with representatives of Kroger’s King Soopers grocery brand eventually led to a development on a pivotal intersection. “I think we’ve won that deal because our meeting at RECon allowed us to not only make our pitch, but to listen to King Soopers’ needs and be more strategic with our proposal,” he said.

Fayetteville, Ark., is exhibiting at RECon for the first time this year to boost the visibility of this college town of 83,000. Fayetteville’s young population, Ozark Mountains setting and entrepreneurial small-business climate are catching site consultants by surprise, as are neighborhoods that are either witnessing retail growth or else primed for development, says Devin Howland, director of the city’s one-year-old Economic Vitality Department. Apartment and retail developers are flocking to Fayetteville’s Uptown District, on the north side of town, for example, while on the south end, the Walton Family Foundation has provided $120 million to build a new University of Arkansas art school that is expected to help fuel retail development. The foundation has also provided funds to facilitate the design of a two-mile-long, pedestrian-friendly corridor connecting the art school to downtown.

“Retail plays a big part in building a sense of place,” Howland said, “and there’s no better place than RECon to connect with developers who you think have done admirable work in other parts of the country.”

Meanwhile, New Orleans officials are returning to RECon and are on a mission to correct frequent misperceptions about the city, says Quentin L. Messer Jr., CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance. A population of about 395,000 places New Orleans squarely into the midsize market category, he says, but retailers and developers often fail to factor in the spending of some 10 million tourists who visit the Big Easy each year. Moreover, gaps in grocery chains, national dining concepts and other categories persist, despite a retail recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Messer also thinks the city is ideally positioned to leverage the retailer focus on creating customer experiences, and booth visitors can expect a taste of New Orleans with a dose lagniappe (Cajun for “a little bit extra”).

The city of Moreno Valley, in California’s fast-growing Inland Empire region, is returning to RECon in an effort to bolster its retail offerings. This 33-year-old city with a population of 210,000 is transitioning from a bedroom community to one that is enjoying brisk rooftop and business expansion, says Mike Lee, director of Moreno Valley’s Economic Development Department. The city’s population is growing by about 5 percent annually, and restaurants in particular are zeroing in: 15 new operators opened last year, and about 20 more are in the pipeline, according to Lee.  The city offers a streamlined entitlement and permitting process. “People joke around and ask us, ‘Are you sure you’re in California?’ ” said Lee. “California has its state laws, but on a local level, we do as good a job as we can to expedite development.”