Amid the so-called “retail apocalypse” hitting stores nationwide, businesses are still optimistic, says Carmen Austin, a leasing agent for Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate on her way home from the International Council of Shopping Centers, better known as RECon.
More than 37,000 retail real estate professionals from around the world gathered in Las Vegas over the past four days for the event.
Austin told Daily Report she was there seeking tenants for The Shoppes at Sherwood, a planned 18,000-square-foot retail strip center on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard being developed by the North Carolina-based Tributary Land Design + Build.
In her time at RECon, Austin met with shopping center owners, retailers and developers from across the globe to discuss that project and countless others. Some of those professionals, she says, are interested in developing in Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana.
Her biggest takeaway from the conference: how “energetic” the market is, and how optimistic other attendees are about the future of retail.
“This has been the most vibrant and active meeting I’ve seen in several years,” she says. “Right now, people are doing deals, buying, selling, expanding … Online retailers are opening brick-and-mortar stores, and brick-and-mortar stores are going online.”
With some $10 billion in retail projects under construction, Las Vegas appears to be an anomaly, free from many of the struggles retail is facing across the country, making it an ideal venue.
Networking chatter, says Austin, mostly revolved around omnichannel retail, focused on a seamless customer experience, as well as how everyone can compete in the Amazon age.
Sessions also highlighted different retail trends, including how its survival hinges on providing customers with value, convenience and experience.
Off-price apparel and home fashion chains like Ross Stores, which offer consumers value, are expanding quickly, according to an event update from the CoStar Group, with plans to open 75 more brick-and-mortar stores this year alone. Meanwhile, concepts like Amazon Go’s checkout-free stores, which are also on the rise, provide much-desired convenience.
Experience-based retail is also trending, with places like TopGolf (slated to open in Baton Rouge in late 2018 or early 2019) and Apple’s “Town Square” stores gaining momentum.
