“We are in a moment of transition,” declared WilliamTaubman, COO at Taubman Centers, during arecent presentation to the real estate community. Interviewed byMichael Graziano, co-head of global real estateinvestment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co.,Taubman talked about the future of the industry at the event, whichwas sponsored by the Georgetown McDonough School of Business.

“Sales are mediocre now but they're up one month and down thenext,” he asserts. “Retail is ever growing; what makes a storegreat today are the seeds of destruction tomorrow. For example,look at Abercrombie and Fitch. It was so identified with ageneration but eventually a new generation comes in. Retailreflects everything going on in society.”

To that end, Taubman adds, “Retailers are struggling. Some aredoing well, like Apple, but it's tough. It's a combination of fastfashion that has impacted the margins, customers being in a hardgoods mode because they're worried about interest rates going upand when you walk through the mall, not much there is excitingtoday.”