BOCA RATON, FL—With retailers hit hard from the coronavirus, locally-based Pebb Capital is working with its retail tenants to help them stay afloat,, says Todd Rosenberg, co-founder and managing principal of the locally-based Pebb Capital.

"Our goal right now in working with our retailers is one of 'let's work together to help them get through this time, knowing that their ability to generate revenue has been hampered or completely shut,'" Rosenberg tells GlobeSt.com.

"Eventually, if we give them enough rope, they will be able to recapture some of that lost revenue and pay us back for the time we gave them. So, if I am going to take their down side on my balance sheet, eventually we will need them to help me recoup that. So as long as we are on the same page, we will be able to come up with some solutions to work through this."

Rosenberg says the programs implemented by the federal government thus far aimed at helping businesses have done nothing to shore up their obligations to pay lenders and landlords.

"It really puts everyone in a pickle," he says.

Rosenberg says soft goods retailers, unless they possess a strong online presence, are in deep trouble. Weak companies that were struggling prior to the coronavirus, might as well close up shop today and figure out how to regroup.

"Stronger capitalized retailers will presumably make it a longer period of time, but they are not getting any assistance from the trillions of dollars being pumped into the system because it's being improperly directed at just paying underlying employees, completely ignoring the value of their employers," he says. "It will be a tough run for brick and mortar retail."

Retail will see a slow rebirth, predicts Rosenberg.

"People will be cautious and go out at a slower pace to malls. They are not going to want to go sit in restaurants and bars unless they are sitting far apart. Even then, there will be a level of nervousness. The whole retail environment will suffer during the rebirth. When they are all able to come back, I don't know of anyone that will have a head start on another."

Rosenberg says his firm has been able to make deals during the lockdown. He says in the long term, solutions will be found to enable the country to get back to business, but maybe not exactly the way it was pre-COVID. Companies will return to business with the awareness that everyone has to be cautious.

Instant Insights /

One Investment Firm Helping Retail Tenants Knowing They Will Be Slow to Recover

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