As the brick-and-mortar retail market rapidly changes to adapt to ecommerce and technology—usually by creating a stronger in-store experience that cannot be replicated online—retail brokerage is also changing. Where all retail landlord brokers are required to represent their clients and protect their investment, retail brokers also must think creatively about the tenant mix to ensure that the tenants will help drive consumer traffic and protect against the Internet. While this has always been true of retail brokers, this is an increasingly necessary skill as retail needs change.

“Retail brokers have a long history of being a little bit more creative. They are problem solvers and puzzle solvers or finishers,” Jeff Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates, tells GlobeSt.com. “Every retail space is really a piece of a puzzle. Because the consumer has become so much more sophisticated and has so many other options of how they acquire goods an services, retail brokers really have become specialized in trying to make sure that the centers that there clients own have the proper tenant mix. I have seen that become true of our retail brokers.”

Securing the proper tenant mix isn't as easy as filing the space with a restaurant or grocery tenant, which are known to be Internet resistant. Rather, brokers need to consider the surrounding market, other tenants, cachet of the tenant, all of which adds up to a tremendous amount of research. “The proper mix changes to market to market, and from submarket to submarket. It is different in Silver Lake than it is on the Westside or in Riverside or in Carlsbad, and it is for sure different from Philadelphia and Brooklyn,” says Rinkov. “It is changing dramatically. There needs to be something with an experience, something with unique branding and something of a product offering that creates a draw.”

Finding a tenant with that sense of place and singular quality takes research. “For example, a sandwich shop that will serve people that want sandwiches,” says Rinkov. “Not everyone wants to go to a sandwich shop; they want to go to a place with a presence, a trendy place.”

Instant Insights /

The Balancing Act of Retail Brokerage

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