Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/109754
Coleman, a senior representative on the 10-member leasing team for Pyramid's 16 properties in New York and Massachusetts. "We met with the chairman and other executives, saw a number of Uniqlo stores and toured several malls." The goal of the visit, however, was not simply to sell Uniqlo on the virtues of a 25,000-square-foot storefront at Palisades. "This is a retailer that could be successful in every one of our centers," Coleman said. "So the idea was to start building a relationship." Over the past six years, Coleman has helped drive traffic to Pyramid's portfolio by building relationships with tenants that promise to bring more fun to the mall. Examples include Yard House, a bar and grill with about 200 beers on tap, and Pole Position Raceway, an electric go-cart track that is one of the busiest entertainment tenants at Destiny U.S.A., the six-story super-regional mall in Syracuse, N.Y. Pole Position got its start in industrial areas, says Coleman, but the leasing team had a hunch that an upgraded version would work perfectly in a 40,000-square-foot space at the mall. "The cars go 45 miles per hour on a quarter-mile track, and people love it," Coleman said. "On weekends the waits can be three or four hours. The track stays open until midnight or 1 a.m. and doesn't close until the last person races." Negotiations naturally include talk of demographic data, sales projections, lease clauses and the like. But when it comes to forging lasting relationships with tenants, leasing agents need to rely on skills that may be more art than science. "In my meetings with retailers, I tend to do a lot more listening than I do talking," Coleman said. "I want to understand what is important to them, what they are looking to do in the near term as well as their long-term goals and strategies." By doing homework up front but also listening carefully during the face-to-face meeting, leasing agents can gain insights that help them craft a winning presentation later on. They are also more likely to win the retailer's confidence. "Retailers have a much higher level of respect for someone who understands their business," Coleman said. "That is one thing that can really help a leasing agent stand out." BRIAN FINNEGAN Over the past decade Brian Finnegan has seen a diverse array of retail markets firsthand. "Over the course of my career, I've worked in the Northeast, the Southeast and on the West Coast," said Finnegan, senior vice president of leasing and redevelopment at Brixmor Property Group. "And with Brixmor, I've been in five different offices." Finnegan has risen from a young tenant rep tasked with grunt work for franchisees to his current role as head of an 8.4 millionsquare-foot portfolio of community and neighborhood centers across six states. Though the surrounding landscapes differed over the years, Finnegan did notice commonalities as he moved from place to place. "I'd repeatedly encounter the same faces," he said. "I might be working in, say, San Diego and run into tenant reps I had worked with previously in Atlanta or Philadelphia." In the small world of retail leasing, titles change all the time, and so does the amount of leverage. "You might be negotiating with somebody who is just starting out and has no leverage because they're working for a small retailer," Finnegan said. "And yet two or three years later, that same person might be working in a senior position for a big-box chain." When newcomers join the team, Finnegan, who was actively involved with ICSC's Next Generation program over the years, takes care to highlight the implications of this reality. "Always treat people with respect, because your reputation is key," he said. "Make sure your counterparts TODAY'S NEWCOMER COULD HAVE CLOUT THE NEXT TIME YOU CROSS PATHS, SAYS BRIXMOR PROPERTY GROUP'S BRIAN FINNEGAN. walk away from the deal feeling as though they have accomplished something. That way, they will want to work with you again." Of course, another constant in retail is change itself. "Retail is continuously evolving," Finnegan said. "Our job is to make sure we are on top of it and that we change our approach where necessary." He cites recent shifts in the highly competitive grocery sector. In Southern California the likes of Aldi and Fresh Market are scouting for sites even as Walmart prepares to roll out dozens of its neighborhood market stores. Meanwhile, Finnegan's team is now accustomed to doing deals with nontraditional uses that rarely appeared in retail centers a decade ago. "We have had a lot of success with medical facilities like CareMore, municipal offices and even some schools," he said. "Depending on the asset, these uses can be excellent traffic drivers." But though the Brixmor team is gaining experience with nonretail uses, the effort should not be likened to a reboot, says Finnegan. "There are some tweaks, yes, but it is still basically the same skill set," he said. "At the end of the day, it is still leasing." SCT M ARC H 20 13 / SCT 37