Virginia Retail Matters 2024 Report Download

For the second year, Retail Alliance commissioned Main Street America to conduct a major retail study to analyze current sales statistics and retail trends, blending them with national and state findings from Main Street America’s Small Business Survey of nearly 1,000 micro and small brick-and-mortar retailers across the U.S., to provide an in-depth look at the State of Retail in the U.S. and, in particular, Virginia. In response to feedback from last year’s report, we have expanded the study to include three new chapters: AI, Workforce, and Access to Capital. These additions address critical issues that are shaping the future of retail and provide fresh insights into the challenges and opportunities facing our industry. Research was conducted in May 2024. 

Click on the image below to find the download page! 

Biographies:

Michael Powe, Ph.D. - Senior Director of Research 

As the Senior Director of Research at Main Street America, Mike develops research projects that demonstrate the power and potential of Main Street communities. This includes work managing research partnerships, steering research efforts from design through execution, and gathering and analyzing data related to the performance of Main Streets across the country. 

Mike has more than 15 years of experience conducting groundbreaking research on the links between communities’ physical fabric and their social, cultural, and economic vitality. Between 2013 and 2020, Mike led research for the National Trust for Historic Preservation that empirically assessed the contributions that existing buildings and commercial districts offer cities. 

Matthew Wagner, Ph.D. - Chief Innovation Officer

Matthew Wagner, Ph.D. serves as Chief Innovation Officer at the National Main Street Center, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for leading the Innovation Team, focused on internal and external research, new business support, and piloting, testing, and launching new ideas, tools, and technologies. 

Prior to his work at Main Street America, Dr. Wagner had a dual role of Director, Global Community Affairs, and President of Johnson Redevelopment Corporation at SC Johnson, a $10 billion global consumer products company (Glade, Raid, Windex, Ziploc, etc.). Since 2011, he had international responsibilities driving the company’s $35 million philanthropy strategy in sustainability and workforce. 

Emi Morita - Manager of Research 

As the Manager of Research, Emi helps to build and manage Main Street’s survey output as well as communications regarding research efforts, and contributes to the organization’s overall research capacity. 

Emi previously served as the Tony Goldman Fellow at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In this role, in support of the Preservation Priorities Task Force, she conducted research and identified strategies that preservation organizations can use to help create and retain affordable housing. Emi’s background also includes a Fellowship at the Small Center for Collaborative Design in New Orleans, LA, as well as an Internship at the Cooper-Molera Adobe National Trust site in Monterey, CA.