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Emil Gullia As the economy continues to stabilize, new trends have unfolded regarding consumer health habits. The perfect storm is brewing for niche sporting goods retailers as consumers are becoming more mindful about health and reconnecting with the outdoors. Small industry sporting goods and outdoor companies are taking advantage of the climate and growing their concepts into national chains. This trend has made it possible for these retailers to grow their footprint and boost sales by being able to offer specialty brands and services to consumers fueling a healthy competitive market. Evidence of this expanding market trend is found within the growth plans of smaller regional chains such as Olympia Sports, Dunham Sports and Sport Chalet. National brands such as Gander Mountain, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s also are reacting to the changing consumer trends and seeing an increase in their growth metrics. Examples include: · Academy Sports + Outdoors has been aggressively expanding in the Southeast with new store announcements and has plans to expand its distribution center in North Georgia, adding more than 250 jobs. · Olympia Sports announced plans to open 25 more stores in 2013. · Sport Chalet, a chain which has …

Eileen Mitchell Research some rent and sales data on the high streets and class “A” or “A+” regional malls around the country, and you might conclude a robust recovery is in full swing. Manhattan storefronts in and around Times Square are asking for rents of $2,000 per square foot. SoHo and Union Square in New York, and Michigan Avenue in Chicago, are commanding rents of more than $500 per square foot. Eye-popping rates are once again the norm in many of the biggest MSAs across the country. Meanwhile, with demand in these markets at a high, many top-tier malls are commanding sky-high base rents and CAM charges, making it tough for chains to afford any space. Drive out of the city to tertiary markets like Altoona, Penn., however, and the economic picture looks very different. As of June, Altoona's unemployment rate stood at 7.5 percent, up from a low of 3.7 percent in Sept. 2007. The city's population of about 46,000 people has been on the decline for some time now, and vacancies are more common at malls and other retail properties around town. This “tale of two markets” highlights the unmistakable divide running through today's retail markets: Even as …

Savannah Duncan With an increase in jobs and exports, as well as a decrease in vacancy rates, the United States manufacturing market continues to display signs of recovery. A new white paper by Carolyn Bagnall, director of research based in Cassidy Turley’s Kansas City, Missouri, office, explores the manufacturing market and the outlook for the remainder of the year. “With both domestic and global consumption rebounding — albeit at a choppy rate — America has steadily increased production of vehicles and parts, semiconductors, civilian aircrafts, clothing, fuel oil and commodity-based food items, to name a few,” Bagnall says. As a result, the U.S. manufacturing sector added 335,000 jobs between January 2011 and June 2012. According to Bagnall, this is the strongest stretch of job creation in manufacturing since the 1990s. Falling Vacancy Rates Another sign of resurgence is that vacancy rates for manufacturing facilities continue to fall. More than 116 million square feet of warehouse space has been leased during the last 15 months. In the first quarter of 2012, the vacancy rate for manufacturing facilities was 7.8 percent, down half a point from the end of 2011. “The markets that showed the greatest improvement were primarily on the West …

Savannah Duncan According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the total footprint of commercial projects that have achieved LEED certification has reached more than 2 billion square feet worldwide. Additionally, 7 billion square feet is currently in the pipeline as registered projects. “In communities around the globe, leaders from every sector of the building industry are reinventing their local landscapes with buildings that enliven and bolster the health of our environment, communities and local economies,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC. Each day LEED is certifying approximately 2 million square feet of commercial building space in more than 130 countries. Nearly 50,000 commercial projects comprising 9 billion square feet of construction space, are participating in the LEED program. 2500 Windy Ridge, an office building in Atlanta, achieved LEED EBOM Platinum certification in August. “The journey to this milestone has energized our economy, funneling $554 billion annually into the U.S. economy alone, and has helped support 7.9 million jobs across the U.S.,” Fedrizzi says. LEED takes several factors into account when awarding certification, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, locations and linkages, awareness and education, innovation in design …

Tom Mullaney As e-commerce websites become more user-friendly and technology continues to provide consumers with new ways — from tablets to smartphones to laptops — to access the Internet at a moment’s notice from just about anywhere, online shopping is more popular now than ever. While many bricks-and-mortar stores are laboring to maintain sales in the face of a struggling economy, online retailers, which now represent nearly 10 percent of all sales in the country, are posting annual gains in the double digits. What is the secret to flourishing in the face of this shifting landscape? How can established retail outlets avoid losing sales to online competitors? What, exactly, does the 21st century consumer demand from his or her shopping experience, and how can a store meet and surpass those expectations in order to grow their numbers and change with the times? When approached correctly, the Internet can be a bricks-and-mortar store’s valued ally, but if online sales are ignored or neglected, the company as a whole can suffer irreparable damage. One need look only as far as Tower Records, Borders and Circuit City to see the potentially fatal impact of relentlessly growing e-commerce. To many retailers, this feels like …

Matt Valley U.S. labor market trends are following a “stunted Goldilocks pattern” — neither too strong nor too weak — which means it is unlikely the Federal Reserve will offer more support through monetary policy, says Victor Calanog, head of research and economics for New York-based Reis. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 163,000 in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Friday, easily surpassing expectations of 95,000. The private sector generated 172,000 jobs while government jobs declined by 9,000. “July's jobs figure is an overwhelmingly positive development,” says Calanog. “The only ones who will be disappointed at this minor surge in hiring are those banking on a weakening economy that would prod the Federal Reserve to consider more [quantitative] easing when it meets in September.” (Quantitative easing occurs when the Fed buys assets from banks in an effort to drive down yields and interest rates.) Even so, it's hardly time to take a victory lap, points out Calanog. If the economy continues adding jobs at the current pace, it won't be until early 2015 that it recovers the remainder of the 8.4 million jobs lost during the downturn. U.S. commercial real estate valuations should continue to benefit from investor …

John Nelson ATLANTA —The message from a panel at the ICSC Next Generation Conference in Atlanta last week was overwhelmingly clear: A federal retail sales tax for online retailers would level the playing field for bricks-and-mortar retailers who claim they are at a competitive disadvantage. Currently, online retailers do not equally share the burden shouldered by bricks-and-mortar retailers to collect and remit state sales tax.An online retailer is required by law to collect sales tax from a consumer only when the consumer resides in a state in which the online retailer has a physical presence, such as a retail store or distribution center. That compliance requirement stems from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 1992 in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. The ruling was handed down by the nation’s highest court before online banking was even established. Panelists at ICSC conference agreed that the measure is outdated. To address the disadvantage, two pieces of legislation have been proposed to Congress to implement the tax for online retailers: S.1832 (the Marketplace Fairness Act) and H.R. 3179 (the Marketplace Equity Act). The panelists urged the audience to write to their congressman to support the legislation. The proposed measures are gaining momentum. Seattle-based …

Liz Burlingame Newcomers to the shopping center industry have faced a difficult road to success amid a slowly recovering economy. Even so, many young professionals have been determined to stay in the business. They've even embraced the downturn as an opportunity to adapt and grow. At industry education programs aimed at young talent, they're also finding support from colleagues, business partners and even their competitors. ICSC's Next Generation, a program created in 2001, gives young professionals a chance to network with retail real estate industry peers and veterans. The program has held more than 700 events since its inception, drawing more than 50,000 people. Organizers say it can offer young people a chance to gain vital contacts and learn the ins and outs of the industry as they launch their careers. At a recent Next Generation event in Atlanta, REBusinessOnline spoke with Brad Hutensky, president and principal of Hutensky Capital Partners and the ICSC chairman for 2012-13. Hutensky joined the Hutensky Group, a Hutensky Capital Partners affiliate, in 1989. The latter is a real estate fund management group, which was founded by his father, and invests solely in retail assets. During the event, Hutensky shared his thoughts on the opportunities …

Savannah Duncan Though bank failures spiked from two in May to seven in June, the pace has declined overall on a year-over-year basis, according to Trepp LLC. In the first half of 2012, 31 banks closed, compared to 48 this time last year. The pace of closures in the first half of the year was 5.5 banks per month, compared to 7.7 banks in the first half of 2011. “Assuming that economic and real estate market conditions continue to improve, bank failures have reached their peak for this cycle and are declining,” says Matthew Anderson, managing director of New York City-based Trepp. Of the seven banks that failed in June, five were located in the Southeast, including Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. Additionally, two banks stalled in Georgia in late July after the Trepp report was released. The closures bring the total number of bank failures in Georgia to 82. One bank also failed in both Illinois, which ranks third for failures with 50 closures, and Oklahoma, which has only had five total closures. Commercial real estate loans continue to be the problem for troubled banks, comprising $141.6 million, or 76.4 percent, of the total $185.3 million …

Tom McGarity Bigger isn't always better — at least that's what we are seeing when it comes to overall square footage in office space these days. When we look at trends and numbers, for the most part, the days of big corner offices, large workstations and considerable paper file storage space are quickly going by the wayside. Here in the Midwest, we have witnessed a significant compression of office space in the last 10 to 15 years. Where companies once allocated 250 square feet of space per employee, some have now dropped below 175 square feet per employee. For example, it is not unusual for companies to lease or buy commercial buildings where they can house 500 employees in 100,000 square feet of space. In years past, they easily would have needed 125,000 square feet or more. Some larger users located in Columbus recently shared they have had a 20 percent reduction in work surface per employee since 2000. So, why the compression of space? There seem to be a number of factors. First, not surprisingly, the issue of economics. Less space means less of everything: furniture, carpeting, storage and areas that require conditioning. Of course, putting more employees in …