From the ICSC Floor
We stopped by Cushman & Wakefield's booth at ICSC's New York National Conferece Tuesday, where we snapped Americas retail services leader Matt Winn (right) with NY senior director Steven Soutendijk. According to Matt, the top three retail stories to watch in 2014: 1) the continued rise of luxury as it branches into off-prime locations--think Ulaanbaatar couture; 2) further urbanization worldwide as people move back to cities (50% of Asians live in cities today, projected at 75% by 2040); and 3) a greater focus on outlets ("on fire, everywhere, every brand...people want a perception of value," he says). Over 7,000 retail-related pros attended this year's conference, held at the New York Hilton and Sheraton.
Thanks to the Internet, regional luxury fashion names began desiring national recognition, JLL's (and colleague photobomb victim) Michael Hirschfeld tells us. Now they want to be multinational. That's partly why his brokerage, Surge Retail, was acquired by JLL over five months ago; his clients wanted overseas advice.
