SALEM, Ohio – The city’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan identified a $305 million retail gap, money residents and those in the surrounding area are spending outside of town.
The city partnered with Retail Strategies to study the area. The identified Primary Trade Area included nearly 70,000 residents with a median household income of $63,211 and an average household income of $82,547.
“It’s amazing when you look at the data, the amount of opportunity that is there,” said Julie Needs, executive director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center. Needs said some business owners seem surprised to learn their customer base is much larger than just the population of Salem itself.
Salem, the largest city in Columbiana County, has the ability to attract people from rural areas and smaller towns around it.
Don Thomas, managing partner at Platz Realty Group, said the market area includes southern Mahoning county, where residents have been moving south and west, and northern Columbiana County, from the Pennsylvania line to Alliance.
“Obviously, northern Columbiana County has been on fire,” Thomas said, adding that for the past 10 years, the area from Columbiana through Washingtonville has been growing. And Thomas said Platz is now receiving significant inquiries heading west from there. Those inquiries ask for specific traffic count projections and other data, which fast food, gas station and convenience store chains look at before making a decision to establish a presence in an area.
“You have to give them something with some analytic value to it, not just rhetoric,” Thomas said. He is already using Salem’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan to help companies take a fresh look at the area.
Thomas said though he can’t share specifics yet, he believes one national client has been enticed by the data to take a second look at property on the corner of Ellsworth Road and U.S. Route 62.
“When you show them those numbers, that raw data, they see this. It makes more sense for me to move my business here,” Needs said. “There’s a real opportunity to bring a business and to grow a business in Salem.”
Local business owners and regional and national operators are looking for sites in Salem, actively asking for updates on available spaces, according to the economic report. Downtown Salem renovations and the number of businesses continued to grow. However, having the right building sizes and spaces, as well as small business support when startups do occur, remains a challenge the city needs to work on over the next five years, according to the report.
Needs said leaders have been sharing the statistics from the report, which they consider a living document, to commercial real estate agents and developers, as well.
Joe Hvorka, who has been redeveloping downtown spaces, has been using the data to market to tenants for his buildings, Needs said. Hvorka has attracted both restaurants and small retail businesses to Broadway Avenue, a street that connects with East State Street in the main downtown area.
Retail Strategies is helping the city market itself to national and regional chains, Needs said, including going to trade shows on the city’s behalf. She said she is excited to learn what comes from a recent convention where the city was represented in Las Vegas, one of the largest shows of the year.
According to the report, residents will often drive to other places for food, electronics, building materials, furniture, home goods and more, because those items remain underrepresented in the Salem community. That represents an estimated $305 million going to businesses outside the city.
In a 2025 Salem Growth Survey, 60% of respondents said shopping options “need improvement,” and 38% said restaurant options “need improvement.” Of those respondents, 16% said retail, dining and local businesses should be the city’s top priority over the next five years.
Needs said the restaurant and bar numbers were surprising, with $55.3 million being spent elsewhere. Building and garden materials accounted for $39.9 million, with furniture at $10.5 million and electronics and appliances at $5.8 million.
Anne Gano, owner of The Rumpled Queen, a gastropub in the downtown area, spent years in the restaurant industry in Chicago, New York, Paris and Pittsburgh. She grew up in Salem and was concerned about bringing her new venture to her small hometown.
Would the area be able to support something so different than the other options in the city?
“I started talking with Julie [Needs], and she showed me the survey of how much money was being pulled away from Salem, of people who were taking retail and restaurant business outside of the city. And that’s when it kind of clicked,” Gano said.
She said when she was growing up, her parents almost always left Salem to go out to dinner.
“There weren’t a lot of things that were attracting people to want to come to Salem,” Gano said.
She said the survey data also helped lenders better understand her vision, easing skepticism and opening the door to opportunities.
Support for The Rumpled Queen has been strong. During the winter, tables at the restaurant are often difficult to get without a reservation, and Gano has since expanded seating with an outdoor patio area.
Scott Larrick, owner of The OG, a casual dining restaurant and wine and craft beer establishment on Broadway Avenue, said the restaurant data aligns with what he observed even before opening the business about a year and a half ago.
“I had a sense, I guess, from living in town for a little while that there was some demand there that was not being met,” Larrick said. “I think, particularly for something new, something else a little more upscale, casual upscale, anyway.”
While building a business takes time, Larrick said customer feedback has been strong, reinforcing that many residents want a place with a varied menu where they can dine without leaving the city.
The Five-Year Economic Development Plan report also noted that the closure of Sparkle Market on Lundy Avenue in March 2025 left west-end Salem residents without transportation with limited access to groceries. The report also identified a need for additional restaurants on that side of the city.
While the SOD Center once focused primarily on attracting jobs to Salem, Needs now sees retail development as a key component of the city’s economic growth.
“We have to have these things to bring people into town,” Needs said. “If these businesses are considering moving here, we’ve got to have these options for their potential employees. So we’ve made it a real focus.”
Alicia Johnston, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce director, said she sees a lot of new businesses opening downtown, including some owned by people from outside the area.
“That’s a wonderful thing for the residents and the community of Salem,” Johnston said. “To see this, it’s very encouraging. And we look forward to what they bring. I’m excited for the new businesses.”