All American Family Fitness– Southlake Town Square – 1430 E. Southlake Blvd. – anticipated opening in April

Dragon Storage– 950 S. Kimball – anticipated opening in April

Dunkin’ Donuts– Southlake Marketplace – 2255 W. Southlake Blvd. – anticipated opening in March

HomeGoods– Southlake Corners – 200 N. Kimball Ave., Suite 228 – anticipated opening in May

Mellow Mushroom– Gateway Plaza – 2820 E. Southlake Blvd. – opening date TBD

Pure Barre– Southlake Oaks Addition – 480 W. Southlake Blvd., Suite 131 – anticipated opening in February

Pure Health– Southlake Town Square – 1244 Prospect St. – anticipated opening in February

The Hair Bar– Southlake Town Square – 1522 E. Southlake Blvd. – anticipated opening in February

The Sweet Tooth Fairy– Southlake Town Square – 1243 Main St. – anticipated opening in April

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market– Southlake Marketplace – 2201 W. Southlake Blvd. – anticipated opening the end of May

1.   In 2011, 37% of homebuyers were first-time buyers – down from 50% in 2010.

2.   Last year, 88% of homebuyers used the Internet to search for a home. That   number was down slightly from a high of 90% in 2009.

3.   The typical homebuyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 12 homes.

4.   The number of buyers who purchased their home through a real estate agent or   broker climbed to 89% – a share that has steadily increased from 69% in 2001.

5.   Nearly 1 out of 4 buyers said the application and approval process was   “somewhat more difficult” than expected and 16% reported it was   “much more difficult” than expected.

6.   About half of home sellers traded up to a larger and more expensive home and   60% traded up to a new home.

7.   The top 3 factors influencing neighborhood choice were: the quality of the   neighborhood, convenience to job, and overall affordability of homes.

8.   The typical seller lived in their home for 9 years. That number has increased   from 6 years in 2007.

9.   Although 61% of sellers said they reduced their asking price at least once,   the average home sold for 95% of the listing price.

10.   Only 10% of sellers sold their homes without the assistance of a real estate   agent. Of those people, 40% knew the buyer prior to the sale.

11.   The typical “for sale by owner” home sold for $150,000 compared to   $215,000 for the average agent-assisted home sale.

All Contents 2012 The National Association of Realtors.

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Southlake Chamber of Commerce Releases Business Survey Results

In keeping with its mission of serving the needs of business, the Southlake Chamber of Commerce conducted its first comprehensive business survey this summer. Open to all Southlake businesses, the online survey included 26 questions coveringseveral important business issues:

• Recruiting
• Training
• Sales
• Growth/expansion
• Financing
• Workforce issues
• Chamber programs/services

The survey results have been tabulated and released by the Southlake Chamber, providing an overall sense of the current economic environment in Southlake, along with issues facing Southlake businesses.

“This is the first time we have reached out to the entire business community to get feedback and we need to know how they’re faring in today’s economy,” states Dana Davis, president and CEO of the Southlake Chamber of Commerce. “The purpose of the survey was tohelp us get a sense of the big picture, both good and bad. Now, we can develop ways to better support them.”

In the past decade, Southlake’s business community has exploded with new commercial development along Southlake Boulevard, State Highway 114 and beyond. Today, the city has an estimated 1,600 businesses (including home-based) encompassing a broad range of industries. Of the 139 survey responses, the overwhelming majority (64.7%) are small businesses with less than 10 employees. The following industries are represented in the survey responses:

• Professional service – 39
• Financial service – 21
• Retail – 18
• General service – 9
• Restaurants – 6
• Manufacturing/distribution – 5
• Other – 22
• No response – 19

According to Davis, several positive responses in the survey revealed Southlake has not been as badly affected by the economy as other areas:

• 49.6% reported an increase in sales during the past three years.
• 54% rated the business climate in Southlake as excellent or good.
• 42.4% plan to add between 1-10 employees during the next five years.
• Several community factors were overwhelmingly rated as excellent or good including police/fire protection (88%), medical services (86%), and business networking (73%).
• External factors such as proximity to airport (99%), proximity to amenities (100%), and responsive local government (75%) are viewed as having a positive impact on business in Southlake.

Overall business challenges revealed in the survey responses include road construction, high commercial lease rates, lack of affordable housing in Southlake, and workforce issues such as wages (46%) and competition from surrounding cities/businesses (28%). Community factors with significant responses as fair or poor were local taxes (48%) and zoning and permitting (42%).

Most of the survey questions allowed for comments and these can be viewed in the online summary at http://www.southlakechamber.com/files/Southlake_Business_Survey_Report.pdf.

“Nothing in the survey responses really surprised me and was consistent with what I had been hearing from people since joining the Chamber in July 2010,” Davis comments. “What is important to note is that we were able to glean positive findings from the report that we believed to be true, but now we have data to support it.”

Another section of the survey focused on employee training, with 41% indicating local opportunities (i.e. seminars, webinars) would be beneficial. Of those respondents, the areas in which training is most needed are marketing (29%), customer service (23%) and communication (22%).

As a result, the Chamber has announced a business seminar series in 2012 that will cover the identified topics. The first one is scheduled for January 2012 on social media.

Other initiatives are creating a marketing and communications plan to better promote the Chamber’s programs, and working with the City of Southlake to develop a business retention program.

Davis has made formal presentations to the organization’s board of directors and Southlake Business Council, along with sharing the results with the Southlake Economic Development Department and City Council.

“We appreciate the businesses that took the time to answer the survey questions and we’re looking at the results carefully to determine how we can help to sustain Southlake’s business community,” Davis says, adding the Chamber plans to conduct the survey every two years.