New technology company RetailTenant is helping to cure retail today's biggest dilemma: tenant mix. The an online platform that enables retail landlords and their brokers to find the perfect tenants. Andrew Tavakoli launched the company, leveraging his 30 years of retail experience to curate a successful tenant mix for owners.

"We started the process of putting the company together in 2015," Tavakoli, RetailTenant CEO and founder, tells GlobeSt.com. "This was largely due to the fact that we own a lot of shopping centers throughout the sunbelt and have a lot of experience in the field. Unfortunately, even though we hire the best regional leasing agents, we have encountered setbacks quite a few times when we found out that the leasing agents are unaware of a lot of prospective businesses that are expanding. There are many prospective businesses expanding locally and nationally. Some are moving to a city, from either the region where they have a few locations, or they are expanding a number of locations from one state to another state."

Most new tenant-focused technologies have focused on the apartment market, but RetailTenant aims to create a user friendly platform for commercial owners. "It's incredibly simple to use—landlords and reps simply enter the size and location of their property, and immediately receive a list of retailers and restaurants expanding with those criteria, including direct contacts," says Tavakoli. "Because of the seven-day free trial, and even a completely-free tier of membership, there's no commitment to see the results. We're continuing to add new retailers, and update older ones, every day, and will continue to build out new ways to engage with the tenants and their reps."

For property owners, the program has clear benefits. Finding the right tenants is a major challenge. "The benefits are cheap, quick, and easy access to thousands of retailers expanding in their cities," explains Tavakoli. "We don't charge the absurd fees of some our competitors, and are working to democratize access to tenants. After all, shopping centers occupied with appropriate, successful tenants will help us all."

Benefits aside, Tavakoli says that this kind of program is essential for property owners. "As retail continues to evolve, and commercial real estate technology continues to adapt, tools like RetailTenant.io and our sister company RetailMatch.io (which uses custom algorithms and machine learning to score matches of vacant suites and expanding tenants) will become even more essential to the success of retailers," says Tavakoli. "Landlord reps around the country are already relying on both of these services to close deals with sustainable tenants faster."

Instant Insights /

New Technology Promises to Curate the Perfect Retail Tenant Mix

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