Despite store closures, retail experts attending the ICSC conference held in New York City, Dec. 6-7, 2017, see opportunities.

“We are very bullish on retail,” said Mark Kostic, vice president of U.S. retail for Brookfield in Connect Media’s latest video, filmed at ICSC. “We are seeing a lot of retail centers becoming larger mixed-use plays, and we are always looking for new opportunities in that field.”

“You’ll see a lot of opportunities coming from some of the pure players that are looking to enter into the brick and mortar space. Depending on the markets, you’ll find that some of those spaces can be absorbed by some of the categories that are doing really well like beauty and discount,” said David Gorelick, head of retail services for Cushman & Wakefield. “It’s a really exciting time… it allows landlords an opportunity to remerchandise their schemes, be a little more innovative, create an opportunity for their customers to have something different than they have had in the past.”

“We are seeing a lot of space being re-purposed. We are also seeing explosive growth in the health care industry going into retail locations,” said Geno Coradini, executive vice president – retail tenant representation for JLL. Wireless stores, fitness, auto part and dollar stores are also filling spaces.

For example, Walgreen’s has announced closures will empty abou 600 stores. Many of those stores are likely to rapidly find new retail tenants who can often take over the lease. “We are seeing pet stores that will come behind that — anyone who wants a hard corner,” said Camille Renshaw, CEO and co-founder of Brokers + Engineers.

Some e-retailers are also filling retail spaces. “We are seeing a lot of first of’s — people that are coming in, popping up and then going into a long-term deal,” said Karen Bellantoni, vice chairman for RKF.

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