Local officials say stores must embrace new generation of shoppers

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:41AM

Preparing local businesses for the new consumers who use Facebook, Twitter, and smartphone apps when they walk into a store was the focus of the annual Business & Government Breakfast sponsored by the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 26.

Lake Forest City Manager Bob Kiely and Lake Bluff Village Administrator Drew Irvin explained to some 100 business representatives who enjoyed breakfast at the Deer Path Inn that they must get ready for the new generation of shoppers.

“The standard now is for brick-and-mortar, online and catalogue that operate independently,” Irvin said. The next step is “perfect integration of communication, sales and service.”

Both communities have launched a “Live, Work, Play” app to promote the use of services, resources and products that are available in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. The “Work” button includes businesses. “Play” lists shopping, food and drink, and other items. The new approach is not just for retail, but for the service industry, including municipalities, Kiely said.

“Any business, including the village and city, has to be thinking about this in the way that we deal with the people that we serve on a regular basis,” Kiely told the group.

All businesses should look at how they can connect in both a physical way and a digital way with their customers, Kiely said. “Your lives are going to be very different. This is what that (younger) generation is looking for.”

Also at the breakfast:

• Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joanna Rolek reported that during 2011 the Chamber brought in 73 new members, bringing membership to 482 — the second-largest chamber in Lake County.

• Chamber of Commerce Officers for 2012 were introduced: Irene Ratliff of Lake Forest College as president; Deborah Haddad, Haddad Law Firm, vice president; Steve Madden of Lake Forest Bank & Trust, immediate past president; Willard Bunn of Baytree Bank, treasurer; and Steve Ballen of Ballen & Company, secretary.

• The 12th annual Community Leadership Award was presented to Sunset Foods and accepted by company president John Cortesi in recognition of a member business that exemplifies an exceptional level of commitment to community service.