On April 10, 2023, Jill Rowe was featured in a Q&A with Chain Store Age on the impact of remote and hybrid work on landlords’ office, retail, and residential real estate spaces, and how collaborations can create better retail experiences. The following is an excerpt:
What advice would you give retail partners pursuing new real estate opportunities?
There are three things that retail and restaurant tenants should keep top of mind. First, shoppers want customized and individualized engagement with their preferred brands—and retailers need to deliver. For example, online ordering demand continues grow. Retailers and restaurants need to find new ways to leverage this booming service if they want to engage shoppers, including creating new reasons to encourage them to pick up orders in-store. More importantly, they need to use mobile and online ordering as a means of providing an experience—not just a product.
Next, tenants always need to be willing to adapt to the changing real estate environment. Retailers and restaurant chains have learned to pivot on a dime over the last few years, whether due to ever-changing government regulations, fluctuating consumer demands, supply chain disruption or labor shortages. Many brands may be exhausted from the effort, but the lessons learned from being flexible will continue to define success. Finally, success stems from resiliency. Successful retail and restaurant chains took a deep breath and made it through three years of utter turmoil. That perseverance will remain essential moving forward. Every day we read a new prediction about the economy, the global supply chain, labor and consumer whims. Restaurants and retailers that keep a steady eye on these and other evolving trends will make it through and become stronger.
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