News
LUX RETAIL!
August 17, 2009
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| Thursday morning, we dropped by ICSC’s Sixth Ave. HQ for its Next Generation program on luxury retail. Saks chairman Stephen Sadove (second from right, with Sperry Van Ness’ Neil Golub, ICSC’s Marvin Morrison, and Pryor Cashman’s Andrea Gendel), tells us that the market is less worse than it was, but not much better, although we’re seeing a stabilizing consumer market. People are buying but are looking for uniqueness or value, so look for an L-shaped recovery. The upside? Shoppers are still brand loyal and not trading down. |
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| National Realty & Development Corp.’s Dovid Spector, RIPCO’s Bradley Cohen, and Acadia Realty Trust’s Lindsey Smookler. Contrary to trends during the upswing, Brad’s seeing a lot of mom-and-pop stores expanding. He just signed a 6k-SF Applebee’s at 1 W. 125th St. in Harlem. (We realize it’s a national chain, but, he points out, it’s a local franchisee.) He’s now wrapping up an 11k-SF office lease above the restaurant. No truth to the rumor that if you sign the lease after 10pm, appetizers are half off. |
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| King Penguin Properties’ Matt Delicata, EBI Consulting’s Justin Smith, CS Commercial Group’s Neal Ohm, and Bohler Engineering’s Kevin Haney. Quite the busy group: Justin says his firm is assisting Goldman Sachs in the environmental due diligence of a 52-property DDR portfolio. (How many of you saw DDR and thought of the videogame Dance, Dance, Revolution? Sounds like a synergistic marketing opportunity.) Neal recently leased two UES restaurants, which he said required a lot of creativity and handholding. Kevin's seen an uptick on the land development side these past five months, particularly in NJ and Virginia. |
