Features

Commercial real estate lenders have remained timid as retail businesses in the Central Florida market navigate how to operate successfully during the COVID-19 crisis. As of this writing, Orange County had the 23rd most cases by county in the United States with 36,400 positive coronavirus cases and 378 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The metro Orlando county is currently in Phase II of the Sunshine State’s reopening plan, which includes allowing restaurants to bump up capacity from 50 percent in Phase I to now 75 percent; retailers can …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

As the nation’s retailers adapt to more curbside pickup and outdoor offerings as a result of COVID-19, what will happen in cold-weather states like Michigan once winter hits? Panelists pondered this question during “Michigan Retail Outlook,” a webinar hosted by Shopping Center Business and Heartland Real Estate Business that took place Tuesday, Aug. 25.  “We have tenants that are expanding their outdoor seating and planning ahead for winter by adding covers, plastic vinyl or outdoor heaters,” said Mike McBride, senior vice president of asset management for RPT Realty, which has an office in Southfield, …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Written by Greg Lyon, principal and design director for Nadel Architecture + Planning Retail destinations have undergone an evolution over the past several years. The sharp rise of e-commerce has resulted in retail owners and developers working to ensure they are creating internet-resistant shopping centers that will stand the test of time. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the already-robust discussion surrounding incorporating more service-based retailers and items that consumers simply can’t get online. While these are certainly important components, one of the most essential aspects of an internet-resistant …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Before the coronavirus pandemic, mall and shopping center owners were so much more to pop-up tenants than just landlords. Specialty leasing has become more about business mentoring and support than it has about filling empty space. These supports in design, technology, POS, merchandising, data collection and much more have resulted in top developers becoming incubators for fresh new brands to keep the shopping experience unique and unexpected. During the pandemic, many owners are still finding ways to help sustain their smaller, digital-first or local tenants and to supplement the Small …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an outsized impact on South Florida. According to John Hopkins University & Medicine, the region’s three primary counties rank in the top 20 of confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, July 22. At 92,345 cases, Miami-Dade County is No. 4 on the list. Broward County comes in at No. 9 with 43,747 cases, and Palm Beach County is No. 20 with 27,506 cases. The surge in cases has had a pronounced effect on the area’s retailers as citizens have resumed their caution in public …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

The COVID-19 outbreak had a tremendous impact on retail across the country, and Charlotte was no exception. As stores were forced to close, business owners had to devise creative ways to operate during the pandemic. Rent deferral, Paycheck Protection Program funds, layoffs and furloughs were some of the ways owners addressed cash flow. Many restaurants faced questions regarding takeout, delivery service, menu adjustments, table spacing and employee safety. Enhanced cleaning procedures, payment procedures, marketing adjustments and general overall operations were other issues facing many restaurants and retailers. Restaurants with drive-thrus …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

California Centers, a sister publication of Shopping Center Business, recently spoke with Brad Umansky, president of Rancho Cucamonga-based Progressive Real Estate Partners and the newly appointed president of the Retail Brokers Network. As Umansky assumed the volunteer role in May, the nation — and the retail real estate industry — was in the throes of dealing with closures and stay-in-place orders brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. He spoke with the magazine about assuming his role for the network at this time, and how its members are helping each other …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

By Ray Balfanz, Outlook Management Group What does Milwaukee bring to mind? Beer? Cheese? TV’s “Happy Days”? Perhaps the city chosen as the site for the 2020 Democratic National Convention? Yes, that’s us — being recognized and happy about it. But since I began penning this piece in March, we’ve experienced a world of change in the realities of group gatherings: We can hardly have 10 people in a group now, let alone thousands of delegates filling our new Fiserv Forum. It’s anybody’s guess how long the multi-trillion-dollar brick-and-mortar retail …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

In the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, retail was an almost immediate victim as governors and mayors across the country issued stay-at-home/shelter-in-place directives, forcing many retailers to close their stores for a time and some eventually made the difficult to decision to furlough or layoff their employees. For the first time in history, all 50 states were simultaneously under a federal disaster declaration and 38.5 million jobless claims have been filed in two months, another historic figure. After the initial shock of stores and restaurants closing temporarily or pivoting …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Shlomo Chopp doesn’t mind stepping out of the box and being told his ideas won’t work, or even being slightly outcast as the “village idiot.” He is fine with the naysayers because he knows when he has an idea worth pursuing and one that has the potential to change the way e-retailers grow a physical location. That’s what Chopp has in Anchor Shops, a proposed location within Fashion District Philadelphia where companies can start a physical location without the start-up costs of diving headfirst into a brick-and-mortar. Chopp brought on …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail