Connect Retail is our weekly column on the sector, authored by veteran CRE writer Ian Ritter.

There is plenty happening in the retail real estate world right now, and the biggest CRE conference in the world, RECon 2016, tackled many of the trends. A vice president at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Jesse Tron, conducted some superb interviews with top-level executives at the RECon show in Las Vegas this week. 

Here are some snippets:

Glenn Rufrano, the chief executive of VEREIT, talks about how the net-lease sector is becoming more relevant. 

David Zoba, with JLL, and an ICSC trustee, said that the booth space and traffic was very positive at the conference, and also said that there is a lot of positivity in the retail real estate industry right now. 

Joe Cosenza, a chairman at the Inland Group of Cos., says his company, which is diversified through different commercial real estate sectors, will continue investing in shopping centers, despite the sector’s challenges. 

On the luxury retail front, William S. Taubman, chief operating officer of Taubman Centers, discusses how technology has changed the retail-real-estate world.

Finally, Stephen Lebovitz, chief executive of CBL & Associates, current ICSC chairman, talks about the strength of retail, as well as pointing out the pluses of outlet centers.

How was your RECon experience, and how do you see retail real estate playing out for the next year?