Retail Experts Delve into the New World of Shopper Expectations

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic put much of the brick-and-mortar retail sector out of reach for consumers on lockdown, operators are still adjusting to the new world of shopper expectations. That was among the high-level themes that were delved into by retail experts during the “View from the Top” panel at Connect Retail West 2024, held in Los Angeles just after Election Day. 

“For us, it’s really focusing on the experience,” said Corey Conrad, SVP of leasing and brand partnerships at Caruso. “Time is one of the most precious gifts, and so when consumers give the gift of their time, we want to maximize that. And so we encourage our retailer partners to do the same.” 

Mitchell Hernandez, co-founder and partner with the Beta Agency, said, “there’s a huge focus on the core business. A lot of retailers had actually gotten away from that. And coming through COVID, they realize the importance of it. At the end of the day, price really matters and your selection matters and making sure you can get your items when you need them matters.” 

Among the Latino shopper demographic, which Primestor Development targets, “I think that we are an evolving market,” said CEO and co-founder Arturo Sneider. “It’s an emerging market in general.  

“And so our retailers are actually in the learning stage of how to sell to a changing demographic that is very fast growing, very young, learning to behave between the physical environment and the digital environment very quickly in a cross-generational household,” he continued. Adding to that challenge are the costs of construction and the complexity of entitlements. 

Asked about redevelopment by moderator Scott Grossfeld, a partner with Cox, Castle & Nicholson, COO Bret Nielsen of Anderson Real Estate responded, “We’re trying to redevelop our properties, put money back into them, try to create a better sense of place. And that’s not only for retail. We’re spending a lot of money in our office buildings, which I know is a four-letter word right now. But in Century City, where we own a couple of towers, we just put $150 million into them and we’re recreating the whole campus.” 

Another initiative Anderson Real Estate is undertaking is partnering with emerging tenants, especially in the restaurant space, who haven’t established a balance sheet as yet. “So we’re trying to partner with them,” said Nielsen. “We feel we believe in them, they believe in us, and let’s just ride the journey together.” 

The hour-long discussion also delved into numerous other areas, including the question of how brick-and-mortar is handling omnichannel transactions as well as retail categories and specific retailers that are in expansion mode. The latter was a theme also explored by Darren Pitts, EVP with Velocity Retail Group, in a one-on-one discussion moderated by Connect CRE’s Sarah Quinn. 

“There’s a little bit of two classes,” said Pitts. “There are groups that are flourishing; the strong are getting stronger. And then you’re seeing some fallout where with some of the weaker ones, you’re starting to see cracks.”