Shopping Centers Today

AUG 2017

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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6 S C T / A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 A mazon.com's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods is a dramatic statement about the value of retail real estate, observers say, but that does not mean the landmark transaction is all good news for Amazon's brick-and-mortar competi- tors and their landlords. For starters, the deal could intensify store closures and the general decline among Whole Foods acquisition gives Amazon a physical footprint By Joel Groover AMAZON–WHOLE FOODS MERGER TO FUEL OPEN-AIR DEVELOPMENT 8 MICROBREWERIES ARE LIVENING UP SHOPPING CENTERS 10 RETAIL RENTS RISE AND VACANCY RATES DROP, REPORTS TREPP 12 T H E C O M M O N A R E A N E W S F R O M A LL C O R N E R S O F T H E S H O P P I N G C E N T E R I N D U S T R Y grocery chains that lack re- sources to compete as their sector increasingly goes om- ni-channel, says Joseph McK- eska, co-founder and presi- dent of Oak Brook, Ill.–based Elkhorn Real Estate Partners. "This is only going to acceler- ate the ongoing consolidation and shakeout in the grocery sector," he said. That means shopping center landlords in particular will need to be even more thoughtful and analytical about the grocery chains in their portfolios, says McKeska, who in the past headed real estate operations for Southeastern Grocers and SuperValu. "You want to pick the horses that are going to be the winners," he said. The deal gives Amazon access to nearly 500 stores it could use as warehouses or showrooms — all in affluent Big deal markets with existing or pro- spective customers of its Am- azon Prime or Amazon Fresh services (the latter is now available in about 20 cities). Amazon could use its Whole Foods stores for returns or pickups of online purchases, both grocery and nongro- cery, which could ramp up competitive pressures in U.S. retailing among a host of chains, McKeska notes. Amazon's original Seattle headquarters (left) and Whole Foods founders Craig Weller, Renee Lawson Hardy and John Mackey, circa 1980

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