Live: Bisnow Hits the French Riviera for International Retail Show in Cannes
Bisnow's CEO, NY business director and DC reporter are in Cannes, France, this week for MAPIC, the international retail conference hosted by Reed MIDEM. We're very lucky to be in a place this stunning.
Cannes is a small resort city on the French Riviera, most famous for the film festival hosted here every May. But the city is bustling in mid-November with shoppers at luxury stores that line the narrow streets, tons of scooters and motorcycles (Did we mention the streets are narrow? They're really narrow.) and more than 8,000 retail professionals, from store owners to developers to brokers to researchers, attending the two-day conference at the Palais de Festivals (that's the spaceship-like building behind the yachts in the above photo).
But before the festival started today at 9am, the partying began last night. MAPIC threw a large shindig at the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic, and we mean large: above is one of six bars spread across three rooms and next to the beautiful pool. The rosé went fast—that's the specialty for the Provence region in which Cannes sits—but it didn't stop the thousands there from enjoying themselves.
Did we mention the party was big? The palm trees lining the roads and sculptures in the entryway to Le Majestic created the perfect mood as old friends and new friends got acquainted.
The pool was closed off, but the water looked beautiful and the weather in Cannes has been as perfect as it gets. Just as beautiful: the architecture of the hotels along La Croisette (that's the main drag on the beach), like Le Majestic and the InterContinental Carlton, where many of the attendees are staying.
It doesn't matter what continent we're on, if Bisnow is at a party everyone is showing off their pearly whites. That includes Reed MIDEM's Aurore Dewas, Leon Goldwater of Real Estate Partners in Amsterdam and Thor Equities EVP Melissa Gliatta, who told us about the projects Thor is doing around the country, including the 1M SF Kirby Collection in Houston and its first DC entrée, the Latham Hotel in Georgetown.
Bisnow also met up with Kimco Realty's David Jamieson, whom we spoke to leading up to the conference about the REIT's growing bottom line and disposition of international outlets, and his colleague David Domb. They're talking to foreign retailers trying to make an entrance into the US, and David says interest in foreign expansion to the States in retail is at its highest point, possibly ever.
Speaking of foreigners, we met these two Brits on the left, Richard Wright and Robert Wilkinson of Tyco Retail Solutions, and their colleague, Maciej Kowalczyk (we double-checked the spelling) of Poland.
Of course, no trip to France is complete without sampling lots of food. The hors d'oeuvres ranged from gourmet mac and cheese and mini-burgers—you read that right—to raspberry purée and "soupe asiatique." It was all delectable, as is basically anything you eat in Cannes, anywhere.
It's hard not to enjoy working day and night with parties like that following sunsets over the Mediterranean like this.
But we're also reminded that there's no place like home (États Unis means United States in French). Check back for more MAPIC coverage, including an exclusive interview with Acadia Realty Trust COO Christopher Conlon, who talked to us about his 1.9M SF CityPoint development in Downtown Brooklyn. Stay tuned!
