[1/11/05]Knowing what people want to buy and how often they buy it could help recruit new retail businesses to Vicksburg, keeping money in the local economy and generating more tax dollars for the municipal government.

With that in mind, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Monday to approve an annual subscription fee that will provide much of that information for a fraction of the cost of the previously proposed purchase of a similar report.

“There’s a lot of information that a company needs before coming to a town or before even looking at a town,” said South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman. “And this will give us access to a lot of that information.”

The City Board approved paying the $4,077 annual fee for a subscription to the online reports generated by Claritas, a San Diego firm that tracks family demographics and spending patterns. That cost is about $56,000 less than what had previously been proposed by the Buxton Company for a similar report.

Christi Kilroy, the city’s special project coordinator, will provide the city with access to the same information being used by retailers who are looking at locations.

“If they’re looking at those numbers, then we need to know those numbers,” Kilroy said.

Claritas uses what is called “geodemographic segmentation” to break people down into groups based on lifestyle and spending practices. The company’s system slices consumers into 66 clusters and designates each ranging from “Upper Crust”: affluent, older white and Asian suburban couples to “Low-Rise Living”: poor, young black and Latino single parents in city centers.

To build its reports, Claritas uses U.S. Census data, public records, consumer surveys and a third-party database. From that information, the systems predicts what households are more likely to own a Ford pickup truck and which prefer a Volvo.

The reports also show which groups live in what areas. In Vicksburg’s 39180 zip code, Claritas shows the three biggest clusters are Bedrock America, Big Sky Families and Family Thrifts.

Bedrock America is described as young, economically challenged families with modest educations and blue-collar jobs. One quarter live in mobile homes and one in three hasn’t finished high school.

Big Sky Families are young rural families who have high school educations and blue-collar jobs. These residents like to play baseball, basketball and volleyball, besides going fishing, hunting and horseback riding and they buy virtually every piece of sporting equipment on the market.

The Family Thrifts group contains young parents who have lots of children and work entry-level service jobs. They typically live in apartments or rental homes and listen to Christian music.

Each group has its own spending patterns, which Kilroy said can be used to target certain retailers.

In other matters, the City Board:

Approved the board meeting minutes from Dec. 20.

Approved $7,900 in grant matching funds to the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation for the River Kids After-School Art and Music program.

Approved renewal of the first-time homebuyer down payment-assistance program.

Adopted special assessments against properties for cutting and cleaning.

Approved Main Street advertisements for January and February.

Authorized the city clerk to advertise for sealed bids for pest control services, traffic signal components and fire department uniforms.

Approved the purchase of face respirators for $15,090 using Homeland Security funding.

Approved a $100 advertisement for the Omicron Rho Lambda Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day program souvenir booklet.

Approved payment of $1,579 for the Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport.

Approved allocation of $15,000 to the Community Council of Warren County and $4,500 to the Exchange Club of Vicksburg for the Child Abuse Prevention Center.

Approved the claims docket.

The City Board will meet again at 10 a.m. Jan. 18 at City Hall Annex.