Partnership announced to help fill business gaps, take advantage of booming economy

MILLSBORO, Del. – A new partnership between Millsboro and The Retail Coach, a consultant group that identifies retail opportunities, will help the town identify and establish relationships with businesses that could potentially come to town.

“By us being on the offense, being proactive, I think we can have more of a say in terms of the type of retail, the type of sit down restaurants we attract as a town,” said town manager Sheldon Hudson.

Millsboro partnered with Buxton, another analytics company, in their previous fiscal year who laid a lot of analytic groundwork.

Town manager Sheldon Hudson tells us this new partnership is phase two in identifying potential business partners.

“We can kind of take that data that was gathered last fiscal year, apply it and hopefully further the recruitment process.”

We asked business owners and residents what they’d like to see come to town.

“Major chain restaurant. Something like Outback, TGI Fridays,” said Brian Reeves, the owner of Starting Lineup Barber Shop. “We have a laundromat, but a dry cleaner would be good.”

Some say there needs to be an emphasis on teenage recreation.

“Trampoline park, an arcade, anything that kids like,” Millsboro resident Sheena Wright said. “We have it in Rehoboth and surrounding areas, we need something for the kids.”

Hudson says a majority of the focus will be on the Route 113 corridor. Especially on the north side with the plans for a Millsboro bypass coming in the next decade.

“You’re really going to see that north side of Millsboro explode, and we think we’ll be able to pull more customers from Georgetown and the surrounding areas in the future.”

Hudson identified other businesses that could be in Millsboro’s crosshairs like hotels, grocery stores, steak houses and sports bars. As for downtown, he mentioned a cafe and a grooming shop as targets for town government to bring in.