By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FLORENCE - A well-known marketing guru could help Florence lure high-end retail to the city's aging retail hub - Mall Road.

Florence City Council is expected next week to hire Stan Eichelbaum as the city's marketing consultant - if a contract can be drafted in time.

Eichelbaum, president of Marketing Developments Inc., a retail consulting firm in downtown Cincinnati, would be paid $46,000 to tell the city how to market itself and to serve as a retail consultant.

"We hope he will help us sell Florence," said city coordinator Jeff Koenig.

Eichelbaum would be charged with helping the city implement its Mall Road Study, which called for the now-aging shopping district to be transformed into a walkable, tree-lined district, with high-end retail, restaurants, a new movie theater and town homes over the next seven years.

Though the contract has not been finalized, Eichelbaum wants $31,600 to study the retail market and make recommendations to the city on how to implement the Mall Road Study plus $2,400 a month for six months during which he will serve as the city's consultant.

At Tuesday's city council caucus meeting, some council members questioned the amount, though the entire council appeared to be in favor of the hiring.

Mayor Diane Whalen and Koenig said the city needed someone with Eichelbaum's experience to help Florence stay ahead of the retail game.

"There are things going on in this region right now that we can't control that we have to keep up with," Koenig said. "Things that might be going on in Crestview (Hills) or even our current mall ownership."

In Crestview Hills, Cincinnati retail developer Jeff Anderson has announced a $90 million redevelopment of the Crestview Hills Mall that will include a new $25 million Dillard's department store, 65 retailers and trendy restaurants.

In nearby Crescent Springs, another developer wants to build an outdoor mall.

Florence doesn't want to lose its place as the retail mecca for Northern Kentucky.

"We do think we are at a critical point now and my feeling is, yes, we need help," Koenig said.

The city doesn't have the contacts or the retail expertise to recruit businesses on its own, he said.

Whalen acknowledged that contract is expensive.

"We can't guarantee it's money well spent, but with his contacts and with his expertise and with the information he can bring to us, it should be money well spent," Whalen said.

"We see this as another step to firm our position in the retail market."

E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com