Is Now the Time for Independent Tenants?

We attended the ICSC New York National Conference yesterday, and the mood was, uh, cautious at best. One the one hand, you had ICSC executives promising members good hotel deals at the Spring Convention in Vegas, on the other hand, J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, head of one of the only apparel chains have current success, was far from optimistic.But we did find one common theme of hope shared by the few developers we talked to on the trade floor. As the major national chains are scaling back (or eliminating) their expansion plans, we’re starting to see a resurgence of the Moms and Pops out there. It seems that these operations, which can vary from any type of specialty store imaginable to high-end restaurants, have been waiting in the wings for their chance to enter shopping centers after being shut out, as a group, by the nationals.Of course, we hear that there are all sorts of risks associated with these operations. Their credit can be shaky at best, the illness of a family member can totally destroy a venture and one developer even told me that you have to put on the hat of a psychologist when dealing with inexperienced shop owners.But could this be a good opportunity during the recession that might even make our centers more interesting?