What The Retail Coach does

The Retail Coach is a Tupelo, Mississippi-headquartered retail consulting firm founded in 1999 by Kelly Cofer that helps U.S. municipalities and economic development organizations attract retail businesses to their communities. The firm operates as a B2B professional services practice, with its core deliverable being the proprietary Retail:360® Process — a registered trademark methodology refined over more than two decades that combines data-driven retail market analysis with active retailer recruitment. Its primary service is a customized Retail Market Analysis evaluating a community's retail potential and trade area, offered initially as a complimentary analysis bundled with a Retail Recruitment Checklist, followed by paid engagement for ongoing recruitment work. Supporting resources include educational webinars, industry news updates, and event-based thought leadership delivered through ICSC partnerships.

The firm sells exclusively to government and economic development entities, with a stated base of 850+ communities served across 42 states and a 90%+ client retention rate. Revenue is generated through professional services fees on custom-scoped engagements; no public pricing is disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven: staff network at ICSC and Retail Live conferences, deliver webinars, and leverage testimonials from client communities such as Murrieta CA, Cedar Rapids IA, College Station TX, and Corpus Christi TX to convert prospects. The firm maintains offices in Tupelo MS (HQ), Austin TX, and Dallas TX, supported by a small 11-50 person team led by Cofer alongside Strategy Director Caroline Harrelson, two recruitment specialists (Jean Totten and Keith Rinehart), and a project manager.

The underlying technology stack is not publicly detailed; the firm's differentiation rests on its proprietary methodology, 24-year industry network with retailers and site selectors, and accumulated local-market intelligence rather than on a software platform. There are no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, APIs, integrations, or software products. The firm holds a registered trademark on the Retail:360® brand and is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, subsidiaries, or M&A activity.

Name

The Retail Coach

Legal name

The Retail Coach

Website

https://theretailcoach.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Retail Coach is a Tupelo, MS-based retail consulting firm founded in 1999 that helps government and economic development organizations attract retail businesses to their communities through market analysis and recruitment services, serving 850+ communities across 42 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Consulting

akta.pro primary industry

Retail & Consumer Services Direct Hire (BPACAFAM)

Keywords

• Retail recruitment consulting
• Economic development services
• Retail market analysis
• Community retail attraction
• Site selection consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Tupelo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Economic Development Consulting Services: Professional consulting services provided to communities and economic development organizations. The company partners with communities to recruit retail businesses, conducting market analyses and leveraging industry connections to attract retailers. Revenue is generated through service fees for retail recruitment and market analysis engagements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Retail Coach is a private consulting firm that helps cities, counties, and economic development organizations attract new retail businesses. Its core deliverable is a customized Retail Market Analysis that evaluates a community's retail potential and trade area, bundled with a Retail Recruitment Checklist. The firm then actively recruits and matches retailers to communities using its proprietary Retail:360® Process, a methodology refined over 24+ years that combines data-driven market analysis with direct outreach to retailers and site selectors.

Product overview

The Retail Coach is a community retail recruitment consulting firm that operates as a service-based business rather than a software platform. The core offering centers on the proprietary Retail:360® Process, a methodology developed over 24+ years that combines data-driven market analysis with retail recruitment strategies. The primary service deliverable is the Retail Market Analysis, which evaluates a community's retail potential and trade area. This is supplemented by the Retail Recruitment Checklist for actionable follow-up steps. Additional supporting resources include Webinars and News Updates. The company serves as an extension of economic development teams, helping communities attract and retain retail businesses to generate additional sales tax revenue.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Retail:360® Process: A proprietary retail recruitment methodology developed over 24+ years of proven strategies tailored to each community's specific retail growth needs.

Products and services

• Retail:360® Process A proprietary retail recruitment methodology that combines data-driven market analysis with active outreach to retailers and site selectors, providing communities with a tailored framework for identifying, attracting, and retaining retail businesses. It is the firm's flagship branded process used in every client engagement.
• Retail Market Analysis

Quantifiable outcome

• $750 million+ in additional sales tax revenue generated for client communities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive membership and participation in ICSC events including ICSC Western, ICSC Florida, and webinars. Staff members serve as speakers and presenters for ICSC educational content on attracting retail to communities.
• Des Moines Business Record / Project515minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompany Strategy Director Caroline Harrelson served as a panelist at a retail sector discussion hosted by the Des Moines Business Record, discussing challenges, strategies, and trends in the retail sector.
• City of Victoria TX / Growing Victoria Franchise WorkshopminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative initiative to help attract franchise businesses to the Victoria community, addressing the challenge of attracting franchises to areas far from major metropolitan hubs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Placer.ai: Foot-traffic and location intelligence platform increasingly used by retailers and real estate teams to evaluate markets and sites. Adjacent but rapidly encroaching on the trade-area analysis work The Retail Coach does manually.
• SiteZeus: AI-driven site selection and trade area platform used by retailers and EDCs to score locations and predict unit performance. Emerging technology-led peer that competes most directly with the analytical layer of The Retail Coach's service.

Broad incumbents

• ESRI: Dominant GIS and location analytics platform used broadly by economic development organizations, retailers, and planners. Not a direct service competitor, but the underlying technology layer that both The Retail Coach and its data-driven peers build on.

Others

• ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers): Industry trade association for the retail real estate and shopping center industry. The Retail Coach is an active ICSC member and speaker; ICSC is a key ecosystem partner, conference host, and referral source rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Retail Strategies: Birmingham, AL-based retail recruitment firm that partners with cities and EDCs to attract retailers to communities. Direct head-to-head competitor with an essentially identical service model and customer base.
• Buxton (Kalibrate): Retail analytics and site selection firm providing trade-area analysis, customer profiling, and site scoring to retailers and communities. Closest technology-enabled peer, overlapping significantly on the market analysis side of The Retail Coach's offering.
• Development Counselors International (DCI): Economic development marketing and consulting firm that helps cities, regions, and EDCs attract businesses, talent, and visitors. Comparable customer base (government/ECOs) and an adjacent, partly overlapping service portfolio.
• Avalanche Consulting: Economic development strategy and target industry analytics firm serving municipalities, EDCs, and utilities. Comparable buyer (government/ECOs) and a data-driven approach to community economic growth, similar to The Retail Coach's market analysis work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@theretailcoach4033
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheRetailCoachLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-retail-coach
• Instagraminstagram.com/theretailcoach
• Xx.com/TheRetailCoach

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Retail Coach