Creating a Balance Sheet to Compete in Retail

Joe Dykstra is the co-CEO of Westwood Financial Corp.

LOS ANGELES—Westwood Financial Corp. is positioning itself to compete in the new ecommerce driven retail market. The firm recently restructured the ownership of 77 assets into a single $1.2 billion entity. The new investment firm is now streamlined with a stable balance sheet that help give them a competitive advantage and take advantage of opportunities in the market.

“In the shopping center business today, you have to be very mindful of ecommerce. We don’t think you have to be afraid of it but you have to be thoughtful and you have to be thinking about strategy,” Joe Dykstra, co-CEO of Westwood Financial Corp., tells GlobeSt.com. “Whether that’s on a property-by-property bases or whether it’s in owning large portfolio of properties like we do now, part of the roll up and creating a company of 77 properties is that we have a better balance sheet. We have better resources to fully execute our growth plan and to navigate through the problems that occur in the shopping center business. This is really for the benefit of our investors. It is really the best platform for us to serve them and provide the shareholders the best return that we can.”