City of Ellensburg Visitor Center

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2.1 Market Definition Unlike radial and drive time studies that use arbitrarily chosen boundaries for customer trade zones,the market definition exercise for Ellensburg is based on zip code surveys completed by cooperating merchants.Zip code surveys have their own limitations,since zip code geographies can be fairly large and stretch beyond typical market boundaries.However,it is the only technique that correlates clearly with customer traffic collected by merchants.Recorded zip codes are used to define a primary trade area,which is then analyzed in terms of demographics and economic activity. Two zip code surveys were conducted in Ellensburg in order to understand the market dynamics of the community while Central Washington University was in and out of session.The first survey was held in July of 2015,and the second held in October of 2015.Sixteen local community retail businesses graciously participated in the zip code survey of their customers in July,and seventeen participated in October.Merchants were provided with a form to record customer zip codes and asked to keep the log for all customers during a ten-day period. 2.1.1 Zip Code Results The results of the zip code survey are presented in Figures 1.1 and 1.2 on the following page and are summarized as follows: •In July,Ellensburg businesses recorded 1,086 individual customer visits from 156 unique zip codes representing 28 states and 12 foreign countries.In October,they recorded 1,808 individual visits from 178 unique zip codes representing 21 states and 3 foreign countries. •During both surveys,the 98926 zip code for Ellensburg had the most customer visits, controlling 56%of the visits in July and 51%of the visits in October. •Customers were asked to identify whether they lived inside or outside the City of Ellensburg. The two results were similar with 42%of the customers living inside the city limits in the July survey and 39%in October;likewise,14%lived outside the city limits in July compared with 12%in October. •Central Washington University students were asked to identify themselves in the survey and represented the second highest percentage of visitors to shops and restaurants in the downtown.As would be expected,their results varied between the two surveys with 7%of the visits in July and 20%of the visits in October. •Visitors from the neighboring zip codes Kittitas and Cle Elum held 2%and 4%of their respective visits in July and 4%and 5%of their respective visits in October. •Customers from the rest of Washington accounted for 8%and 6%of their respective visits in July and October.Many of these customers were regional in nature,so only a portion of these might be considered "visitors"in the traditional sense that they do not rely on Ellensburg as a regular destination for shopping. •Visitors from outside the state of Washington accounted for 12%and 4%of the overall respective visits from July and October.These numbers are quite significant when taken into the context of the visits from the rest of Washington.Visitors represent a key portion of the 6