Three Ways to Make Retail Work

1. Sell What You Can’t Get Online

PegasusAblon principal Mike Ablon combines real estate development with sociology and psychology by studying culture to determine where the retail world is heading. Mike (center, between Venture Commercial’s Mike Geisler and The Retail Connection’s Doug Nash at Bisnow’s Dallas real estate event on Tuesday) says he wants to own the retail venture that sells things people can’t buy on the Internet. Those businesses sway heavily to experience and quality and full-service retail; focus on the environment that you can’t get anywhere else. A good example: his funky Design District redevelopment. 

2. Omnichannel Retailers Win

Lincoln Property EVP Robert Dozier (right, with John T. Evans Co’s John T. Evans and Lone Star Valet’s Marcelo Unterbug) says the retailers who are successfully battling online sales are the omnichannel stores. There isn't a need for as many brick-and-mortar stores as there were before online sales became prevalent. However, retailers need to be nimble with both an online presence and a physical location. (Robert also thinks the market will dictate whether all the projects announced along Frisco’s $5B mile come to fruition. Lincoln is developing the Dallas Cowboys world HQ, The Star.)

3. Plan Ahead

There’s ways to mitigate rising construction costs, says VCC Construction SVP Derek Alley (right, with OMNIPLAN principal Tip Housewright and panel moderator Kane Russell Coleman & Logan director Raymond Kane). He says thoughtful planning can mitigate 10% to 12% of cost increases; plus, planning early helps developers stay a step ahead of the competition.