Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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sector is affected by employment and the health of the consumer," Aquila said. "One retailer CEO said to me recently: 'To the extent that gasoline hits $5 a gallon, that means that my core customers — basic middle-class and working-class people — are going to have that much less that they can spend in my store.' " In this environment, making growth projections is risky indeed. "As a retailer, I really cannot project out two years," Coble said. "I do not know what the buying activities are going to be, and I do not know how consumer confidence is going to change." Despite these caveats and con- cerns, however, M&A; experts still predict a rise in activity as this year progresses. Rather than blockbuster deals worth billions, some of these transactions will be smaller-scale and cross-channel, as brick-and-mortar chains acquire technology compa- nies, catalog operators and other ven- dors that can help them serve their customers better. "You're going to see more of this," Cooper said. "For example, we helped eBay buy GSI, which is an Internet outsourcing platform for retailers. We helped Za- gat's sell itself to Google. We recently helped The Home Depot buy what was, essentially, a technology com- Brookfield is investing $250M to transform the World Financial Center into Downtown's premier retail and waterfront destination. The improvements coincide with $20B of private and public investments in the evolving neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. "As a retailer , I cannot project out two years. I do not know what the buying activities are going to be, and I do not know how consumer confidence is going to change." pany, and we are now engaged by an- other online business that is actually going to sell itself to a retailer." Another example of such cross- curated fashion collection signature restaurants european-style marketplace waterfront dining distinctive retail For information on all of Brookfield's retail opportunities, visit our booth. May 2012 ICSC Spring Convention BOOTH NUMBER C152G in the Central Hall worldfinancialcenter.com channel deals is Williams-Sonoma Co.'s November acquisition of light- ing retailer Rejuvenation, which op- erates four stores but does most of its business by catalog. "It was a great acquisition," said retail consultant Jeff Green, who heads an eponymous firm in Phoenix. "Who knows catalogs bet- ter than Williams-Sonoma Company? They can help Rejuvenation on the catalog side, and Rejuvenation has room to grow, so they can help Wil- liams-Sonoma on the brick-and-mor- tar store side. Some of these deals are going to be under the radar, in other words, but they may eventually have a big impact." SCT 146 SCT / MAY 2012