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The current real estate cycle is considered to be in the later innings of the baseball game with some calling it a post 7th inning stretch and others describing it as long in the tooth, more closely resembling a game in extra innings. One thing is for certain, the backend to this real estate cycle […]

Dollar Stores continue to grow and evolve! Dollar Tree which has over 7,000+ stores and owns Family Dollar with over 8,000+ stores, announced a commitment to renovating 1,000 Family Dollar units in the coming year. The plan calls for the company to rebrand 200 Family Dollar stores to the Dollar Tree banner and completely close […]

What will happen to the hundreds of shuttered Kmart and Sears locations around the country? The retail locations formally occupied by these tenants will be repurposed or redeveloped to meet current market demands, with the exact use or concept to be dictated by the individual trade areas of which these locations lay. Most of these […]

Amazon interested to open a new grocery store model separate from its Whole Foods Concept. The intent was that Amazon wanted to enter the grocery business by way of its Whole Foods acquisition, however their desire appears to exceed purely as a reformat and transformation of just that grocery brand alone. Their recent efforts as […]

E-Commerce Resistant! Strip Centers continue to be a desirable asset class for investors to own. The shopping center tenant mix is usually composed of more internet resistant and service-based uses, concepts from restaurant to medical to daily service needs. The locations of these properties traditionally are in the middle of neighborhoods and can conveniently serve […]

Everyone likes a bargain regardless of age or income! Majority of U.S. consumers are driven by value and have remained price-conscious shoppers throughout time, regularly visiting discount retailers to seek out a bargain. Regardless of age, looking for the best price remains to be a habit in consumers of almost every demographic group. The art […]

Real estate will continue to be a safe harbor for investors in our time of extreme uncertainty as we move into the future. As investors seek out new investments to deploy capital, they should seek out retail investment properties that include service-oriented uses, experimental retail, and internet resistant concepts as they are more likely to […]

Fitness and Self Care Concepts continue to warrant strong demand for space in strip centers. The “self-care” sector which includes wellness, health, fitness, and beauty is a growing business as more and more people are investing their discretionary income into themselves. Majority of these self-care tenants are offering memberships instead of a pay as you […]

Renovate and Freshen Up your Strip Center! Why? Because in many instances you can add tremendous value by renovating or redeveloping your plaza to attract better quality higher paying retail tenants. Creating new energy by way of renovation directly affects the property’s bottom line and positions retail assets to be setup for long-term success by […]

What are opportunity zones and why is everyone crazing about them? Opportunity Zones is a new tax incentive program casted by the government that is forecasted to activate billions of dollars in development and investment in 8,700 federally designated low-income census tracts across the US. The basic concept behind this initiative is to incentive private […]

Whole Foods Market which operates 479 locations throughout its chain was purchased by Amazon in June 2017 for $13.7 billion. Since the acquisition, the chain has been somewhat muted on aggressive store expansion and store pipeline as Amazon worked to fine tune the engine and gear up for the grocery track meet. Whole Foods was […]

Chipotle Mexican Grill which operates 2,250 locations across the United States is a strong tenant for many strip center and shopping center owners and continues to innovate and stay ahead of the curve. This fast-causal restaurant has implemented a new category to meet customer demands designed to follow trendy eating plans. This new “Lifestyle Bowl” […]

As shopping centers evolve, so are parking requirements! The traditional parking ratio of 5 spaces per 1,000 sf is in many cases outdated and not does apply to every situation or commercial development. Municipalities are changing or considering changing the way that they view this requirement by understanding that traditional consumer transportation now includes multiple […]

The economy continues its longest streak ever by adding 312,000 jobs in December. This is a record 99 months of monthly job growth beginning in October 2010. Year over Year wage growth grew 3.2% with unemployment at 3.9%. December numbers show that are economy continues to be in a very healthy state and is not […]

2019 is finally here! As we embark on this new year, investors will look to a world that consists of a strengthen economy with consist job growth in a tail ended real estate cycle. From technology, rising interest rates, economic conditions, potential political risks, omnichannel retailing, change of how brick and mortar space is used […]

As shopping centers continue to evolve, landlord’s will look to lease space at their centers to strong local and regional operating tenants. In order to meet the demands of consumers, landlords will look to input tenants that offer an “experiential, social and engaging experience”. Local and Regional Mom and Pop tenants have been increasing in […]

Dollar General plans to open 975 new stores and remodel over 1,000 stores in FY 2019 which begins in February. Part of their plan includes the incorporation of produce and expanded food selections into areas of which lack grocery options. The addition of produce and expanded grocery is an opportunity to offer a solution to […]

Retailers continue to pour money back into their brick and mortar locations. Why? Physical stores remain the heartbeat to retail brands and it is important for them to keep their core assets polished. The push to make investment into their physical units is an effort to keep their stores fresh, incorporate new store formats and […]

“What do we do with all of this excess parking at our Walmart stores? Let’s create town centers!” – Walmart Executive Walmart has announced plans to capitalize on their existing real estate to reutilize excess parking fields for new town center retail developments. This is a new campaign spearheaded by Walmart called “Walmart Reimagined” which […]

Kroger enters into grocery partnership with Walgreens! This partnership is a format for Kroger to offer a defined branded section within the Walgreens store footprint to sell groceries. The average Kroger grocery section in the new Walgreens program is going to be approx. 4,000 sf which is roughly about a 30% of the average Walgreens […]

Success in the future of retail requires the embracing and implementation of omni-channel into marketing and business operations. The retailers that perform this well will receive a “double whammy” as they capitalize from online in addition to brick and mortar. In the review of the recently passed 2018 Thanksgiving weekend holiday shopping stretch (Black Friday […]

Retail Development is expected to increase for 2019 when compared to 2018 with more than $90M square feet of new retail projected of which includes redevelopments, new restaurants, grocery anchored shopping centers and urban styled experience projects. FY 2018 is on pace to end up slightly less than $70M sf of new retail. The focus […]

TJX is a strong tenant for a shopping center landlord for many reasons and throughout all seasons! Everyone wants a bargain! As consumers look to stretch their dollar, this retailer continues to provide options that are aspirational and economical which bodes well in this sector of the market. They consistently drive traffic to their stores […]

Ikea is looking to open 6 new stores within mixed use retail projects that they plan to self-develop over the next 2 years. The company calls these stores “Meeting Places” and will look to high profile cities in core urban markets for this concept which will include an Ikea store, a home goods big box […]

This holiday shopping season sales could exceed $1 trillion of which 87.5% will be done in brick and mortar business. It is all about creating a great environment and great services for your consumer to make shopping as seamless and as frictionless as possible. Mall landlords are implementing curbside delivery in which consumers come to […]

Retailers must prepare for a floodgate of consumers to shop over this 5-day Thanksgiving weekend. National Retail Federation estimates 164 million consumers are already planning to go shopping. Consumers will be shopping all weekend and retailers must be ready to meet demand. Many consumers will head out right after finishing holiday turkey and continue to […]

Growth within the grocer sector is strong in many areas encompassing Southwest Florida! Individuals grocers to include Earth Fare, Whole Foods, Lucky’s Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Detwiler’s Farm Market are continuing to seek opportunities to growth their footprint within this sector of the state. In search of entering into these markets with limited options, […]

Majority of holiday weekend shoppers are expected to head to physical retailers and shopping center destinations with ambitions to spend more than they did in 2017. 83% of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers plan to buy in brick and mortar and spend approx. $555 worth of goods and services over the 4-day weekend. The retailers that have […]

Food Halls continue to be a hot ticket for retail properties! The concept has grown significantly since 2015 from approximately 70 projects being tracked in the US, to over 180 food halls by the end of 2018 according to Cushman & Wakefield. The buck doesn’t stop there, the industry is expecting that to grow to […]

Dollar General is rolling out a strategy to reduce its store footprint from 9,000 sf to approx. 4,500 sf in an initiative to incorporate a new urban concept called DGX. Dollar General operates approx. 15,000 corporate owned and operate units across its portfolio, opening approx. 1,315 stores in Fiscal Year 2017. The new concept is […]

Brick and Mortar drives digital engagement! Brand’s web traffic and online sales performance is directly correlated and heavily influenced by the presence of a physical store. The selling experience is directly linked to touchpoints through selling channels such as stores, direct to customer, mobile and online. This link ultimately in effect leads to the promotion […]

Significantly lower the rent or face losing the location. This is the ultimatum Mattress Firm is issuing landlords as it begins the bankruptcy process filed on October 5th, 2018. Mattress Firm operates more than 3,000 stores and plans to reduce its store count by more than 500 units. The mattress retailer has experienced aggressive expansion […]

Holiday shoppers are increasingly valuing experience over things! Interesting statistics from Deloitte’s 33rd annual Holiday Survey. According to the survey, experience spending will account for 40% or $611, out of the total $1,536 expected holiday shopper budget. 57% of total holiday spending is expected to be online this year. 66% of shoppers plan to research […]

Tractor Supply is continuing its plan of growth with an announcement to add 500 more stores to its existing footprint of 1,900 units. This retailer has been around for over 80 years and caters to a very niche customer. The average store generates approx. $257 per square foot when compared to Macy’s at $195 per […]

Retail landlords continue to take advantage of the store closures within their property portfolio. They are eager for a new beginning and are re-tenanting their spaces with new concepts that pay more rent and add to the retail synergy at their properties. Concepts such as cinemas, trampoline parks, fitness facilities, dining halls, sporting goods retailers […]

Did you know that Planet Fitness was the #1 ranked tenant by total new square footage leased since the start of 2017 across all “mall” tenants? Fitness is an expanding sector and one of which is near internet resistant. With more than 36,000 clubs across the US with 60M+ members, consumers are more health conscious […]

US consumer confidence is at an 18 year high with an index of 138.4 in September up from 134.7 in August. The all-time high is 144.7 which was reach in 2000. This bodes well for the economy as consumer spending fuels most developed service-based economies, including the US representing approx. 70% of GDP. Coupled by […]

Do you know what the future of malls looks like? This is an ever-changing and evolving question but one that is posed quite regularly. As traditionally formatted malls are re-purposed or re-positioned, developers are having a fun time creating a new picture with a blank canvas. “New is the new, new”! This was a phase […]

More and more of Americans are continuing to eat at home, making the “dine-out” dollar more competitive amongst restaurants brand. 82% of Americans meals are prepared at home. Traffic for the industry was down 1.1% in July, the 29th straight month of declines, according to MillerPulse data. Restaurant Operators continue to report rising sales, however […]

Interesting Opinions via Twitter from different economist pertaining to the August jobs report. Overall, it is a very healthy report marking the 95th straight month of employment gains with an unemployment rate at 3.9%. Jobs create discretionary income which in turns fuels retail sales keeping the shopping center industry in a healthy state. [Source]

In the off-price and specialty retail space, TJX and Ross lead the pack with the highest return on their investment compared to how much they pay in rent. This report analyzed companies return on investment as it relates to what they earn in sales per square foot, compared to what they pay in rent per […]

Retail Sales spiked over the summer primarily due to a strong economy with GDP at 4.1% annualized growth in Q2 and successful retailers are effectively implementing Omni-Channel retail into their arsenal. This is required for the future success for any retail brand and the strongest retailers are spanning across physical, mobile and social platforms to […]

Tesco, the British owned grocer and general merchandise retailer, based out of the United Kingdom has banned plastic bags in replacement of alternatives that are better for the environment. In addition, they have incorporated a new way to utilize recycled plastic shopping bags into the binding material used to resurface parking lots. This new method […]

Planet Fitness is anticipating future growth and looks to Sears and Kmart vacancies as ideal opportunities. The retailer plans to backfill a lot of these recent retail vacancies and looks to landlords as a use that can drive traffic and that “can’t be Amazoned”. Planet Fitness continues to grow its membership base now at 12.1 […]

Toys ‘R’ Us is beginning the process of selling off its real estate, most of which are freestanding stores or located in open air shopping centers averaging approx., 40,000 sf. According to bankruptcy filings players in the mix include Big Lots, Hobby Lobby, Ashley Furniture, Burlington Stores, TJMaxx, Aldi, Marshalls, HomeGoods, PGA Superstore, Target and […]

Despite some of the negative headlines, quality malls and well positioned brick and mortar retail is expected for robust growth in the coming decade. Over this period, annual consumer spending is estimated at 4.3% which will be fueled primarily by low unemployment and an expanding economy. As anchored department store tenants are redeveloped due to […]

Let the countdown begin! The arrival of new lease accounting regulations is on the horizon, less than 6 months out – January 2019. The new changes will require lease liabilities to be brought onto the balance sheet, requiring retail operators to recognize and report almost all lease obligations which has not necessarily been the case […]

CVS moves to add option for Doc On-line styled service. This is the way of the future for the drug-store chain as they look to transform their business model to incorporate expanded physician service offerings. It comes at a time where CVS is getting closer to acquiring Aetna and also as Amazon looks to enter […]

Automation in Restaurants is continuing to increase! A study revealed that 54% of tasks preformed in restaurants can be automated. The declining costs of automated machines in conjunction with the rising cost of the labor market are increasing the appeal for fast food chains. Employees will always be needed at restaurants, but the question is […]

As the hurricane season approaches us, the message is clearly and simply “be prepared”. Last year’s hurricane season caused a record $202 billion in damages in the US and approx. $370 billion worth worldwide. Property Owners must realize that there is a 30-day waiting period from the date a flood policy is purchased before the […]