Chess King - #48

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟴𝟬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙙-𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜. In 1967, traveling salespeople from Melville Corporation's Thom McAn shoe division spotted a gap: young men had nowhere to shop for trendy clothes. Market research found that chess and auto racing were popular among teen

Bon-Ton - #47

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙨𝙮𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝘽𝙤𝙣-𝙏𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚. Carson's. Younkers. Elder-Beerman. Bergner's. All the same company. All gone. The beginning started in 1898 when Max Grumbacher and his father Samuel open a one-room millinery store in York, Pennsylvania. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟵: The company incorporates. "Bon-Ton" (French for "high society") becomes the brand.

Loehmann's - #46

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥-𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘦𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴. Frieda Loehmann, a former department store buyer, opens the first store in 1921 in Brooklyn with her son Charles. Her strategy? Pay cash for designer overstock and samples, sell them at deep discounts. No returns. No alter

Experience vs. Enjoyment: The Distinction That Changes How You Evaluate Retail Tenants

"Experiential retail" is the most overused term in CRE right now...And I think we're using it wrong. Everyone talks about creating "experiences" for customers. Immersive moments. Instagram-worthy activations. The wow factor. But here's what I keep seeing: the wow fades. Fast.

Discovery Channel - #45

𝟭𝟲𝟱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀. 𝗧-𝗥𝗲𝘅 𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀. 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 $𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. If you walked through a mall in the late 90s, you probably stopped at the Discovery Channel Store. Fossils. Science kits. Nature documentaries on VHS. Discovery Communications built it as a brand extension. Retail as marketing. It worked. Until it didn't. 𝗔 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: * 1995: Discovery Channel Store launches with

Convenience retail isn't shopping... It's an errands business.

The industry has been obsessed with "experiential retail" for years. Destination shopping. Instagram moments. Dwell time. Meanwhile, convenience quietly drives more frequent traffic and more opportunities than any experience-driven concept ever will. The market is recognizing this: In late 2024, SITE Centers spun off its convenience retail portfolio

The Limited - #44

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲. $𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲. If you shopped at a mall in the 80s or 90s, you knew The Limited. Dark wood. Stained glass. Used brick. The store that made sportswear fashionable for the everyday woman. Leslie Wexner opened the first location on August 10, 1963, in the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

From LEGOs to Leases: How Kidults Are Changing CRE

𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘆𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹. The above photo is my oldest son's (29) lego city, called Bricklanta...a work in progress over the last 15 years. What started as a kid, has become a love of Lego that has lasted long into adulthood. This obsession has even taken over my wife

Wet Seal - #43

𝟱𝟬𝟬+ 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿: 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. If you were a teenage girl in the late 90s or early 2000s, Wet Seal was your spot. Metallic graphics on the walls. Graphic tees. Fast denim. The soundtrack of mall culture. Founded in 1962 in Newport Beach, California as "Lorne's" (a swimwear boutique), the name

Rite Aid - #42

If you grew up in the Northeast or Mid‑Atlantic, Rite Aid was just… there. Flu shots, film developing, late‑night snacks, first jobs. But behind that familiar blue script was a brutal balance sheet story. Founded by Alex Glass in 1962 in Scranton, PA as Thrift D Discount Center,

The Attention Economy: Reshaping Retail (the Consumer) and Real Estate

Let’s start with a simple idea: Information isn’t scarce anymore...Attention is. We don’t live in a knowledge economy. We live in an attention economy. Online, everything is designed to grab your focus: * Platforms push outrage over nuance * Brands chase clicks over connection * Politics rewards extremes over

Thom McAn - #41

For anyone who grew up in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, the familiar red Thom McAn sign was as much a part of the American mall experience as the food court and the fountain. Ward Melville and J. Franklin McElwain opened the first Thom McAn store in New York City

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Nostalgia to End 2025...

One of the unexpectedly viral series of posts this year for me has been the Nostalgic Retail and Nostalgic Restaurant Series. These have been fun to do, have brought back successful strategies, questionable decisions, failed leadership, and most of all....brand attachment that we all had to many of these

Retailer

Joann (Fabrics & Crafts) - #40

Founded in 1943 by German immigrants Hilda and Berthold Reich, Sigmund and Mathilda Rohrbach, and Justin and Alma Zimmerman, the business began as the Cleveland Fabric Shop in Ohio, later adopting the Jo-Ann Fabrics name as it expanded beyond a single location.  Becoming a publicly traded company in 1969, then

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Where Did Site Selection Come From?

I decided to dig into the history and theory of site selection, wanting to write about it, but with brevity (and not with the old "walking though 5 miles of snow to get to school attitude). Site selection has significantly evolved over the years...part due to economic development

Nostalgic Retail Series

Marshall Fields - #39

Marshall Field’s roots trace to 1852, when Potter Palmer opened P. Palmer & Company in Chicago as an upscale dry-goods store focused on service and trust. In 1865, Marshall Field and Levi Leiter joined the business, and by 1881 Field had taken control and rebranded it as Marshall Field

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The CRE Data Deluge

In Commercial Real Estate, data used to be scarce, proprietary, and hard to access. Today, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. We are awash in information: geospatial data, foot traffic data, building sensor data, hyperlocal demographic and persona data, transaction data, crime and employment data, sophisticated predictive models

Nostalgic Retail Series

Media Play - #38

In 1992, Musicland Group saw an opportunity to revolutionize entertainment retail by creating a one-stop superstore that combined everything a media enthusiast could want: CDs, VHS tapes, video games, books, electronics, toys, anime, and more. The first Media Play opened its doors in Rockford, Illinois, at the Forest Plaza Shopping

Nostalgic Retail Series

Caldor - #37

Founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett, Caldor started as a modest second-story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chester, New York. The couple pooled their $8,000 in savings after visiting an E.J. Korvette store, inspired to create something different from typical

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Mobile Location Data: Powerful Insights or Expensive Noise? (The Difference Is in the Details)

In the commercial real estate industry, data-driven decision-making has become essential. Among the various data sources available, mobile location data (MLD) has emerged as a powerful tool, but one that requires careful understanding and application. I talked about this many years ago, not long after this data became mainstream in

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THE NEW MATH: Retail KPIs

Back in 2022, I did a presentation where I started to touch on the idea that sales per square foot was no longer a good measure of retailer performance (and don't judge on the slide format - I was in my "dark mode mood" back then)

Retailer

Sam Goody - #36

Founded in 1951 by Sam Gutowitz, Sam Goody built its reputation on discounted vinyl records and became a major music retailer in the 1980s and 1990s. It operated more than 800 locations at its peak and was especially known for its “Goody Got It” slogan and broad selection of music,

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GENERATIONS IN MOTION

Why Retail Must Rethink Generational Stereotypes There's a fundamental shift happening in how we understand consumers, and it's forcing retail and commercial real estate to evolve beyond traditional demographic segmentation. The Perennial Mindset Gina Pell introduced the concept of "Perennials" in 2016: Individuals of

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Data Accuracy and “Noise” in Location Intelligence: More Than a Technicality

I have heard a lot lately about both data fatigue and disparate data in #CRE. The former relates to the industry being swamped with data and trying to make sense of the noise. The latter comes once you decide on the data you need (a feat in itself), and none