Huronia Consulting(part 3)

Huronia Consulting is a name I have given to a series of blogs related to improving things in Midland, Ontario.Firstly I have suggested that the mayor needs to talk to and get funding form provincial and federal politicians (not necessarily the minister) to modernize the three or four factories on highway 12.This will take a concerted effort by the mayor and town council.Secondly I point out that Midland is the centre of a county(Simcoe County) that has grown faster than the province since the 2006 census.Primarily Tiny and Tay township have grown in population and have no real centre ,other than Midland,to get many of their weekly purchases.Also Midland has special attractions that most of the surrounding towns do not have.For example,Mcdonald's Restaurant, Canadian Tire,many restaurants,and a large Shopper's Drug Mart plus an art centre and a hospital.
       A breakdown of the Townships
 Once you look at the breakdown of the population in the three townships around Midland you can see just how potentially  important they are to Midland's future.Including Springwarter township the three townships have a population(2011 census) of 39,200.The main two population centres(other than Midland) are Penetanguishene and Elmvale.Neither has the special attractions that Midland does but Penetanguishene must be taken as a competitor for business from the townships.Elmvale less so.In fact, many people from Elmvale may shop at the Midland Canadian Tire or go to it's art centre.So it can easily be seen that competitive prices and  customer service can bring more dollars spent into Midland over Penetanguishene and Elmvale.
         The new Structure
There has been changes going on in Midland  over the past year.Quite a few stores in the Mountainview mall have closed down and business is not booming in the remaining stores perhaps with the exception of the Food Basics store.It has competitive prices and always a special or two.Service in all the mall stores is questionable.The future is not certain unless the remaining stores start to compete on price and become more customer-friendly.A couple of stores have closed also downtown but the art centre may have brought a  little more traffic downtown.There is steady traffic downtown because  the banks are downtown.It is expected that new stores may gradually take the place of the ones closed.But I think the area that might get new stores is on the road between Midland and Penetanguishene.The hospital seems to be expanding and some new stores have already opened such as the Subway store.There is more traffic coming out here as people increasingly come to Swiss Chalet and the Beer store.New outlets may spring up along the highway.The Super store and the Canadian Tire are always busy and bring  traffic.Here is where we may get new stores.    

Huronia Consulting(part 2)

Simcoe County is in Central Ontario and it has lagged behind the province in industrial growth and in population.But according to Statistics Canada from 2006 to 2011 Simcoe County has had population growth exceeding the provincial average.Simcoe County had an average growth of about 1.2% versus a little less than 1% for the province.Wasaga Beach has grown also but it has not had much industrial deelopment.Springwater Twp.,Tiny Twp.,and Tay Twp. all have grown at about the provincial average.Here is where Midland gets a substantial amount of it's income from!Midland is a centre for the area.It has services that the surrounding small towns do not have.This includes to some extent Wasaga Beach and certainly includes Penetanguishene.
               Midland Services
Midland has lots of services not in the surrounding towns.Their main street is considerably more fashionable than that of Balm Beach or Waubashene.Midland has a hospital matched only by Collingwood in this area.The Mcdonald's restaurant brings people into Midland that don't want to go to Barrie and don't like the one in Elmvale nor the one in Wyevale(there is none).Grocery stores in Midland  offer much more variety than the ones in Perkinsfield.So services do bring people into Midland but will it continue to? Midland must compete on the basis of customer friendliness and on price. Customers may come in from Tay township and Tiny township but will they buy a little or a lot?It depends on the friendly staff and the prices they must pay.However the difference between selling $60,000 in sales or $100,000 per day may depend on just that.The area is growing and the townships are growing almost as fast so Midland will continue to service the area for people that don't want to drive to Barrie.The question is how successful will local businesses be?