With Age Comes Wisdom in Retail

(Carl Cronan is editor of Real EstateFlorida.)

KISSIMMEE, FL-Retail brokers’ reaction to current market conditions largely depends on their age perspective, according to one development sage who spoke at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ 2008 Florida conference this week. Craig Sher, executive chairman of the St. Petersburg-based Sembler Co., says those who have been through prior cycles are less likely to panic lately.

“The under-40 crowd has never seen a down cycle,” Sher told GlobeSt.com after a session addressing rapidly changing markets. He pointed out that during the last one, in the late 1980s, professionals who are now in their 30s were either attending or preparing for college.