Though the local retail market has slowed—thanks to an ample supply of shopping center space and a decreased demand for brick-and-mortar stores—area real estate agents who attended last week’s International Council of Shopping Centers’ convention in Las Vegas, say national tenants continue to show an interest in the Baton Rouge market and to present opportunities for existing retail centers.
“I probably had 10 meetings while I was out there,” says Dottie Tarleton of Stirling Properties, one of the sponsors of the annual ReCon 2019. “I met with dollar stores, furniture stores, phone stores, hair salons—they’re all still looking to expand here.”
Tarleton didn’t talk about any specific deals while at the convention but says the clients she met with are eyeing several new local developments, including Arlington Marketplace on Burbank Drive and Juban Crossing in Denham Springs.
As in recent years, the some 40,000 attendees at the trade show heard, both in face-to-face meetings and in breakout panel discussions, that retail isn’t dead; it’s just different. Service providers like salons and discount retailers continue to need physical storefronts.
“People are still chasing after internet-proof retailers, which would be fitness, medical uses, anti-aging clinics and food,” says Jonathan Walker of Maestri Murrell. “We heard, too, a lot about entertainment uses, things like movie theaters and Top Golf.”
In the continuation of a trend that emerged several years ago, online retailers are recognizing that while the bulk of their sales come from the internet, having a brick-and-mortar storefront is important.
“It’s not necessarily a huge profit center for them,” Murrell says. “But it’s a form of marketing and a way for them to get their brand out there.”
Other takeaways from the show: urgent care clinics are cropping up in retail centers across the country; food halls continue to be hot, and one of the alternative uses being explored for vacant malls is transforming them into coworking space.
As for Baton Rouge specifically, Mark Hebert of Kurz and Hebert Commercial Real Estate says folks he met with “are still bullish on Louisiana. They see Baton Rouge slowing down because they feel like they’ve saturated the market but there are still some holes to fill.”
