Goal:

The goal of this project was to identify areas within Minnesota for Cold Stone Creamery expansion. We conducted general research on Cold Stone Creamery and found all current locations within Minnesota. We also researched all ice cream competitor locations within Minnesota. We then utilized ESRI Business Analyst to look at the area characteristics of current Cold Stone Creamery locations. From those characteristics we formed the variables we would utilize to analyze the state of Minnesota for ideal Cold Stone Creamery expansion areas.

Process:

I took the following main steps to complete this project:

1. Uploaded Minnesota Census trac data.
2. Uploaded current Cold Stone Creamery locations.
3. Uploaded competitor locations.
4. Selected areas containing age populations of 20 to 44 year olds.
5. Selected areas containing families with children.
6. Selected areas with income over $50,000.
7. Selected areas with an average population of 3500 and a density of 4050 per mile squared.
8. Selected areas where competition was not located within .25 miles.
9. Selected areas where a current cold stone location was not within 1 mile.
10. Utilized the Intersect tool to identify where all selected areas overlap.
11. Added ESRI onlne basemap layer for reference.
12. Color coded feature outputs.
13. Designed the map layout with appropriate features.

Outcome:

The map produced is shown below. All separate variable map layers were combined to form the final map. We analyzed the entire state of Minnesota, but only areas within the Metro Twin Cities contained all required variables.