Retail Chains Stay One Step Ahead to Compete

TORONTO-Nothing is immune to change. With fads and shopping trends constantly evolving, retail chains are doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the game.

Industry leaders at CBRE’s World Conference in Toronto addressed that evolution at a breakout session called “The Changing Retail Landscape: Top 10 Trends” Thursday afternoon. Jerome Griffith, president of fashion label Esprit North America, joined Annette Healey, first VP of CBRE’s New York tri-state region retail services team, Nena Mass, first VP of CBRE, along with moderator Anthony Buono, executive managing director of CBRE’s retail services.

Griffith pointed to three aspects that his company–which has 750 total stores globally–remains aware of in the ever-changing retail market. The first is that there is constant change to keep up in the retail sector. For Esprit, this means changing products once a month to keep up with consumer’s needs. He also pointed to the changing effect the Internet has on retail business. “The customer becomes a lot more important,” he said when referring to online customers’ ability to have voice their needs to the fashion chain. The third aspect he noted was that the clothing industry is flat and even shrinking as lifestyles continue to change, which in turn, heightens competition.