Section III. Analysis of Commercial Sector Purchasing Patterns by Douglas County Residents

• A Douglas County telephone questionnaire from September 1998 to December 1998 was conducted for more than four hundred (400+) Douglas County residents to ascertain commercial sector behavior of Douglas County Residents.
• Estimation of consumer sales leakage was derived for twenty-two (22) commercial sectors for Douglas County residents.
• Of the twenty-two commercial sector sales, the average leakage of Douglas County resident commercial sector sales is estimated to be 53%. In the previous section the pull factor estimated leakage at 25 percent. The difference in estimates is due to one pull factor was for both individual and industrial consumers. Two pull factors were for all industrial sectors, not just commercial sectors.
• Primary leakage of Douglas County resident commercial sector sales is to Carson City and the Reno-Sparks area.
• Commercial sectors with leakage of 80% or greater are general merchandise stores, clothing and shoe stores, major appliance stores, small appliance stores, automobile dealers, sporting goods stores, and computer and software stores.
• Four general attitude questions concerning Douglas County commercial sector found that only 5% of Douglas County residents replied that the local commercial trade sector was excellent. 34% replied that retail prices in Douglas County were judged higher than relative areas. 76% of the respondents indicated that Douglas County retailers had less selection when compared to other areas. 39% replied that parking availability on Highway 395 or downtown Minden/Gardnerville was a deterrent to shopping in Douglas County.
• From a questionnaire of Douglas County residents, purchase patterns for twenty-two commercial sectors items were derived. Purchase patterns were derived for Douglas County overall and for six residential areas in Douglas County.
• The six areas of geographical residence in Douglas County are Jacks Valley, Gardnerville/Minden, South Douglas and Topaz, Gardnerville Ranchos and Genoa.
• For most commercial sector categories, respondents from Jacks Valley have a tendency to purchase most of their commercial sector goods and services in Carson City rather than in Douglas County.
• The limited dependent statistical procedure called Tobit regression was used to derive the factors that influence Douglas County households in shopping for groceries, general merchandise, clothing and small appliances in Douglas County.
• Results of the tobit regression indicate that location of employment influences the probability of purchasing commercial sector items in Douglas County. If both husband and wife work outside of Douglas County, but live in Douglas County, their probability of shopping locally for commercial sector items is lower than couples who live and work in Douglas County.

Table 31. Probability of Shopping in Douglas County for Selected Items for Households by Selected Demographic Profiles.