LOS ANGELES—Malibu is marching to its own retail drum. The market's naturally isolated geography and wealthy demographics has insulated it from any major retail trends, including ecommerce and daily needs. Malibu sees a fair amount of tourists and has a healthy local shopping base that has kept small brick-and-mortar shops open.

“There are a lot of headwinds out there for retail in general, but Malibu is really insulated from a lot of that because it is so local and because of the wealth. It is probably going to do better than most markets,” Robert Cohen, Vice Chairman of RKF, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the market is even insolated from other market challenges like ecommerce. “There is no doubt that ecommerce is disrupting brick-and-mortar, but that really hasn't happened in Malibu yet because it is such a local market. Once ecommerce-driven brick-and-mortar grows, it may come into the Malibu market,”

The market has managed to maintain its own trend toward high-end and luxury retailers and restaurants, and much of that is because of market demographics. “Malibu is a sleepy coastal community when you think about it, and there are 13,000 people total in Malibu,” says Cohen. “When you think about it, and when you look at the roster of tenants out here, you think that there is no way a beach community can support it. But, we get a lot of tourists and a lot of cars coming in down Pacific Coast Highway. We also have a very influential and very wealthy local customer. This is one of those markets that you just can't ignore.”

Cohen recently closed a lease transaction with Hip-tique for a 1,400-square-foot retail space in Trancas Country Market in West Malibu. While the market has solid occupancy levels, it didn't take the tenant long to find a space. Cohen says that tenants that have targeted Malibu instead should focus on researching the right location. “Malibu is a very local and regional play for a lot of retailers,” he says. “You have to really research the market and make sure that you are in the right position in the market. Hip-tique is in a local portion of the market, but if you are Downtown, you are not only appealing to locals but to tourists as well. There is obviously a higher cost for that.”

For this reason, Cohen expects Malibu's retail market to do well in the coming year, even with some uncertainty from the economy and the new administration, according to Cohen.

LOS ANGELES—Malibu is marching to its own retail drum. The market's naturally isolated geography and wealthy demographics has insulated it from any major retail trends, including ecommerce and daily needs. Malibu sees a fair amount of tourists and has a healthy local shopping base that has kept small brick-and-mortar shops open.

“There are a lot of headwinds out there for retail in general, but Malibu is really insulated from a lot of that because it is so local and because of the wealth. It is probably going to do better than most markets,” Robert Cohen, Vice Chairman of RKF, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the market is even insolated from other market challenges like ecommerce. “There is no doubt that ecommerce is disrupting brick-and-mortar, but that really hasn't happened in Malibu yet because it is such a local market. Once ecommerce-driven brick-and-mortar grows, it may come into the Malibu market,”

The market has managed to maintain its own trend toward high-end and luxury retailers and restaurants, and much of that is because of market demographics. “Malibu is a sleepy coastal community when you think about it, and there are 13,000 people total in Malibu,” says Cohen. “When you think about it, and when you look at the roster of tenants out here, you think that there is no way a beach community can support it. But, we get a lot of tourists and a lot of cars coming in down Pacific Coast Highway. We also have a very influential and very wealthy local customer. This is one of those markets that you just can't ignore.”

Cohen recently closed a lease transaction with Hip-tique for a 1,400-square-foot retail space in Trancas Country Market in West Malibu. While the market has solid occupancy levels, it didn't take the tenant long to find a space. Cohen says that tenants that have targeted Malibu instead should focus on researching the right location. “Malibu is a very local and regional play for a lot of retailers,” he says. “You have to really research the market and make sure that you are in the right position in the market. Hip-tique is in a local portion of the market, but if you are Downtown, you are not only appealing to locals but to tourists as well. There is obviously a higher cost for that.”

For this reason, Cohen expects Malibu's retail market to do well in the coming year, even with some uncertainty from the economy and the new administration, according to Cohen.