Crème de la Crème's Karpas

Childcare is one area of spending that Bruce Karpas is banking on consumers not cutting corners. The chairman and CEO of Greenwood Village, CO-based Crème de la Crème operates 20 upscale childcare centers across the country and plans to increase that number to 30 units by the end of next year. Crème’s facilities, which average 20,000 sf, are mainly on or near shopping-center sites – 25% of them are located in office parks. The company currently has six schools in the Atlanta area, five schools in the Dallas area, four in the Chicago area, and one each in or near the following cities: Philadelphia, Denver, Cleveland, Washington, and Kansas City. Karpas recently spoke with GlobeSt.com about what his company looks for when expanding.

GlobeSt.com: What types of shopping centers do you prefer when looking for space?

Karpas: We really look at the neighborhood. Are there the requisite number of families that fit our target? We look for a combined income of $100,000 with children under five years old. As long as they’ve got that magic number in a seven-mile radius, it works for us. Having said that, we build a very upscale facility, so we want to be in a shopping center that fits the image. We don’t want a downscale shopping center.