Trends in Retail Commercial Real Estate

• One trend is sellers are questioning how buyers will finance their acquisitions due to the current challenges retail faces.
• The gap between what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers expect for their properties has lessened. Retail properties remained on the market longer than other types, but well-located and grocery-anchored retail properties sold faster.
•  CBRE Head of Global Research stated that she expected retailers to reinvest in brick-and-mortar stores with many ecommerce and online companies looking to shift to a physical store to grow their business.

Direct-to-Consumer Brands

• There is a large amount of D2C start-ups that are targeting the elderly for items such as hearing aids and incontinence diapers.
• The start-up Material caters to not only Millennials, but also seniors looking to down-size and purchase home goods. Their marketing strategy to all of their customers was not to be too "slick" or fancy but to create a story that people could connect to.
• A start-up, SentabTV, markets towards elderly individuals. Their approach was a passive approach by conducting in-person surveys and speaking with nursing home patients to learn about their needs and not trying to sell them anything right away.

Opening Retail Space

• Looking to lease a space of 10,000 sf on average takes 4-6 months. A space larger than that could take 6-12 months. However, another site says it takes an average of 2-3 months depending on the space and business.
• You can start a retail business in around 6 months. Getting loans and hiring employees adds to the amount of time.
• According to Shopkeep, a start-up retail business costs on average $100,000 (not everyone will spend this amount). This is determinant upon where you open your business, technology, rental fees, and marketing.

Summary of Initial Research

• Our initial one-hour research was able to provide a brief overview of three of the questions asked. To completely understand each question we would recommend additional research.