Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
PLAYING IT SAFE RETAILERS ARE OPENING STORES AGAIN, BUT THEY ARE A LOT MORE CAREFUL THESE DAYS ABOUT HOW MANY, AND WHERE By Curt Hazlett I T IS A FAIR BET THAT MOST AMERICANS HAVE never heard of HHGregg, an Indianapolis-based consumer electronics retailer. Compared to Best Buy, the sector's 1,100-store alpha dog, HHGregg is more of a Chihuahua, with 200 stores, mostly in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. But slowly and surely, the little chain is putting on muscle. Its store count has grown 60 percent since 2009, and the chain plans to add as many as 40 more in the current fiscal year. Electronics retailers in general have been suffering through the deepest consumer- spending trough in decades, but HHGregg is an exception. "It's a wonderful electron- ics retailer that has been slow and consistent and has made smart moves," said Bill Rose, national director of Marcus & Millichap's National Retail Group. "It is really looking at each market it pursues in a mindful way." Slow and consistent might well be the mantra of retail expansion in 2012. The gun smoke of the past few years is finally waft- ing away, consumer spending is gaining strength, and retail chains are warily poking their heads out of foxholes. Many are mak- ing plans to grow, but the pain they have suffered will no doubt temper that growth. "We just went through a tough cycle, not just in retail, but in the economy as well," said Rose. "Now credit is back, deal flow is very strong, and retailers did a great job of shoring up their balance sheets and inventories so they are really healthy. Still, I think they are being very mindful of doing large rollout plans until they see big job growth and sustained indica- tions that we are on solid footing." Plenty of retail chains have expansion plans in place, but not many evince the over-the- top gusto for growth common in years past. "I was in-house at Hollywood Video in the mid-1990s and we were developing a store a day, on average," said Lew Kornberg, manag- ing director of Jones Lang LaSalle's corporate retail solutions unit. "Outside of a Family MAY 2012 / SCT 129 COVER: LISA LAVOIE ILLUSTRATION