AUBURN - More niche-type retail stores would draw people to downtown, according to a 2004 Cornell University study that analyzed demographic and consumer market conditions in the local economy.

The city's Downtown Business Improvement District wants to share that finding, as well as others from the 60-page study document, with local retailers. For the next few weeks, a consultant will be available to meet privately with business owners and explain how the data can benefit them.

BID Executive Director Sandra Craner said the information could help retailers get a better picture of consumers. They could then target a certain market, or even seek to fill an unmet need, she said.

Kelly Sullivan of Oswego, owner of Center for Systems Thinking and Innovation Inc., will spend up to an hour with each retailer to help them better understand the market. There is no charge for the meetings; Sullivan's fee is being paid from funds BID has obtained from outside obtained from outside sources.

Some of the data that was examined by the Cornell students is the same information used by big box retailers to gain a competitive advantage over smaller retailers. But in the hands of BID members, the data can be used to create a downtown advantage, Craner said.

In addition to reviewing the market data, Sullivan will help businesses come up with concrete ways to improve their sales. To that end, she will review sales data for each establishment and determine what percentage of consumer spending is being captured.

She will help the businesses come up with growth and market strategies that will target the most useful demographic and geographic area.

"It helps businesses to know where people are in their life cycles, where they live, and where they shop," Craner said. "(The study) also showed different markets, what we need more of, where we were leaking out into other places."

Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net