Strengthening Downtown Retail Through Data, Marketing, and Small Business Engagement
Project Overview
St’Artup 317 is an innovative initiative designed to revitalize and activate vacant retail spaces in downtown Indianapolis. By connecting emerging and growing small businesses with available storefronts, the program creates new economic opportunities, increases retail vibrancy, and supports local entrepreneurship.
Valo Advisory’s Susanna Taft Illig supported St’Artup 317’s director with operational support, marketing + communications, and research development, ensuring that data-driven decision-making and visual storytelling helped advance St’Artup 317’s mission.
Challenges & Objectives
Downtown Indianapolis faced retail vacancies and needed a coordinated effort to identify opportunities, market available spaces, and attract small businesses to participate in activation efforts. Key challenges included:
Limited visibility of retail opportunities – Small businesses lacked a clear understanding of where prime spaces were available.
Need for data-driven retail strategy – No comprehensive, up-to-date inventory existed for occupied and vacant retail spaces in the Mile Square area.
Marketing & outreach limitations – The program required effective storytelling and promotion to attract business owners to apply.
Solution & Implementation
1. Downtown Retail Inventory & Research
To support data-driven decision-making, Susanna played a key role in research and operational execution for the development of a Downtown Retail Inventory:
Gathered and analyzed retail space data using a combination of online databases and on-the-ground data collection.
Mapped all vacant and occupied retail spaces in the Mile Square to visually display retail health and opportunities.
Created a retail opportunity map to help program leaders identify high-impact activation areas and guide strategic planning.
2. Graphic Design & Visual Storytelling
To increase awareness and engagement, Susanna developed compelling marketing materials that highlighted downtown’s retail potential:
Transformed complex retail data into engaging visuals, making it easier for stakeholders to understand opportunities.
Leveraged a recent Buying Power Report to create marketing tools that highlighted downtown’s retail potential, showcasing the untapped customer base and foot traffic.
Developed visual content and storytelling strategies to drive interest from small business owners and encourage participation in the St’Artup 317 program.
3. Marketing & Small Business Outreach
In addition to data and design support, Susanna helped promote the program and connect entrepreneurs to retail spaces by:
Leveraging existing relationships in the small business community to spread awareness about available retail opportunities.
Promoting St’Artup 317 applications to ensure a diverse and engaged group of applicants.
Supporting the communication strategy to attract both property owners and small business participants, increasing visibility and participation.
Results & Impact
✔ Created a Downtown Retail Inventory that helped visualize gaps, vacancies, and retail health in the Mile Square.
✔ Supported data-driven retail activation strategies, allowing program leaders to make informed decisions on high-impact areas.
✔ Developed engaging visual tools to tell the story of downtown retail and drive business interest.
✔ Strengthened small business outreach, ensuring that local entrepreneurs were aware of opportunities to participate in St’Artup 317.