16A —November 19 - December 23, 2021 — Retail Development Reimagined — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal www.marej.com
www.marej.com M id A tlAntic Real Estate Journ l — Retail De
R etail D evelopment R eimagined Positivemomentumoffsetting labor & supply chain concerns LMC poll shows retailers gearing up for a strong holiday season N OR T H P L A I N - FIELD, NJ —Strong industry projections ORTH P L A I N - FIELD, NJ — Amid the chal lenges of D 700,000 s/f of tra sacti n & new agency a signments am g 2020 evin Mgmt. ushers in 2021 with a look back on progress
high-profile anchors like Lidl (North Brunswick) and Burl- ington Stores (Raritan). Non-retail leasing highlights within LMC’s diversified port - folio included a 135,000 s/f renewal by Hall’s Warehouse Corp. at Rutgers Industrial Center (Piscataway). “Despite the economic un- certainty and business-related disruptions facing our indus- try since March, there has been progress – with certain key dynamics coming into sharpened focus,” said LMC’s Matthew Harding , chief ex- ecutive officer. “For example, positive landlord/tenant rela- tions have always been impor- tant. During 2020, as tenants worked to navigate an incred- ibly difficult environment, we approached everything on a very granular basis, review- ing the distinctive needs and nature of each business. Like - wise, we have done the same with our landlord clients and their individual properties to Still, Harding sai that considering the level of un- certainty 2021 has brought on a variety of fronts, it is understandable that a notable number of LMC survey par- ticipants are not sure what to expect. Respondents ranked factors that they believe will influe ce seasonal sales per - formance. COVID-19 safety concer s led the field, followed by inventory availability and labor supply. At the bottom of the list? E-commerce growth concerns. “Retailers are facing a nu ber of well-documented hurdles, certainly, yet the position of e-commerce impact among them is worth noting,” Har - ing said. “Just a few years ago, this topic led the conversation. Nowwe are seeing a true equi- librium, as bricks-and-mortar and online operatio s feed one another with an integrated approach highlighted by ship- “There is no doubt that people are shopping – as consumers we’ve all seen the evidence first-hand at busy shopping centers,” noted LMC’s Matthew Harding, chief executive officer. “Ten - ants are leasing space at a healthy pace as well. As such, this level of optimism for the holidays makes sense and is encouraging.”
help them best respond to ten- ant requests and operational needs. “This customized approach has always been central for our team; however, this year has intensified the practice to a new level that we will sustain moving forward,” Harding added. “This is an ad- vantage we can provide over some of our larger, nationally focused peers.” Within this context, nearly 56% of LMC survey partici- pants reported they are seek- ing to add seasonal staff. This percentage far exceeds the Pre-Holiday Survey’s 10-year trailing average of 34.5%. Given the widely discussed retail labor shortage (the US Bureau of Labor Statistics most recently tracked 1.32 million retail job openings at the end of August), it comes as no surprise that LMC tenants are h ving a hard time filling seasonal positions. continued on page 28A LMC also continued to ex - pand its leasing and manage- ment portfolio, which today totals 110 properties total- ing nearly 15.5 million s/f. The firm was appointed leas - ing and managing agent for Springfield Avenue Market - place, a 112,000 s/f supermar- ket-anchored property at 204- 234 Springfield Ave. in New - ark. In Bergen County, LMC was named managing agent for Marketplace at Edgewater, a 73,000 s/f shopping center located at 725 River Rd. in Edgewater. MAREJ Across the board, studies by major industry players – such as ICSC, the National Retail Federation and Deloitte – project year-over-year holiday sales increases of between 7% and 10.5% for 2021. from-store and click-and- collect collaboration. “And, simply put, people like to shop in person,” Harding added. “Consider the findings of I CSC’s holiday intentions survey, which revealed that 85% of shoppers plan to spend money in physical stores this season, and of those who plan to use click-and-collect, 72% say they will likely purchase more while picking up their orders.” Staffing for a Busy Sea - son
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for consum- e r ho l i day s p e n d i n g , along wi th sol id year- to-date per- f o r ma n c e , appear to be offsetting re- tailers’ con- 2020, commercial real estate services firm LevinManage- ment Corporation (LMC) achieved tangible progress – a promising sign for the industry moving into a new year. Over the past 12months the North Plainfield based organization secured nearly 700,000 s/f of new leases and renewals, added new leasing and manage ent assign- ments, solidified its staff with new hires/promotions, and garnered several industry recognitions. cerns about how COVID-19, supply chain and labor chal- lenges may impact perfor- mance during this critical sea- son. North Plainfield-based commercial real estate ser- vices firm Levin Manage- ment Corporation (LMC) this week released the find - ings of its annual Pre-Holiday Retail Sentiment Survey, which polls store managers in its 120-property, 16 million s/f leasing and management portfolio. Nearly 80% of survey par- ticipants reported their year- to-date sales have met or exceeded expectation, with more than three quarters reporting the same for store traffic. Approximately 72% are optimistic about what the holiday season will bring, though nearly 20% say they are not sure how their stores will perform. Highlights of LMC’s retail leasing activity included an anchor lease with off-price retailer Burlington Stores at Mill Creek at Harmon Meadow (Secaucus), a 24,000 s/f lease with Aqui Market at Twin City Shopping Center (Bayonne) and a 20,000 s/f lease with Planet Fitness at Mayfair Shopping Cen- ter (Commack, NY). LMC’s transactional activity also brought a host of renewals as well as new retailers and service providers to the region, punctuated by nearly one dozen leases with restaurant tenants – several of which have already launched opera- tions. Other openings involved Melissa Sievwright
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Burlington Stores at Mill Creek at Harmon Meadow
BORRUS ASSOCIATES Investment Real Estate
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Julius Borrus Broker & President Borrus Associates
P.O. BOX 8357, REDBANK, NJ 07701 P: 908-839-0052 | borruscommre@aol.com A Member Of The International Council Of Shopping Centers NY, NJ, CT, PA INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE
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