LOS ANGELES—GlobeSt.com recently caught up with Gary Glick, partner at Cox Castle Nicholson, based here in Los Angeles, to discuss the two major movements his retail team is seeing in the market today. “There is a movement towards 'Amazon-proofing retail centers,' or leasing to experiential tenants like restaurants, theaters and fashion retailers over any tenant that competes with Amazon.com,” he says. Another movement he is seeing a lot of based on the deals his firm is doing involve the “shake-up” in grocery.
According to Glick, “With the increasing popularity of non-union specialty grocers such as Whole Foods, Sprouts and Trader Joe's and non-union traditional grocers such as Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market—not to mention the increasing amounts of groceries sold by non-union big box retailers such as Target, Costco, Wal-Mart and Sam's—the traditional union supermarket industry will be facing major consolidations and challenges.”
As for the “Amazon proofing retail centers,” Glick says that, “Landlords are connecting the strong performance by luxury retailers and higher end restaurants to the experience that these tenants deliver. Experiences like trying on clothing and enjoying a meal with friends cannot be ordered online, but the products that Best Buy and Barnes & Noble carry can.”
How do these movements play together? “In addition to space created by retailers who are looking to shrink their footprints, there continues to be some second generation space on the market resulting from the closings of retailers like Circuit City and Borders,” Glick tells GlobeSt.com. “Fortunately for retail landlords, specialty grocers like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Sprouts have been willing to absorb some of the vacant space, and that trend is expected to continue.”
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
