We’re also active in the acquisition market. We’re a smaller company, the smallest of the mall REITs, for us it’s adding a property here and there, not adding companies or groups of properties, but we’re actively out there looking for growth opportunities.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the indications that you’ve seen that show that retail is doing better today?

Glimcher: I’ve been to more than 20 of the ICSC conventions in Las Vegas, and this past one in May was one of the most positive that I’ve seen. Two years ago, things couldn’t have been worse, last year everyone was just catching their breath and just happy to be present. This year people had their sleeves rolled up and were getting down to business. What an amazing recovery over the past 24 to 30 months.

Retailers are clearly doing well. We’ve got from companies opening up just a handful of stores each year at most to an average of 20 to 30 store openings per year. It’s probably the first time in my career that there’s more demand for space and less supply, there’s just no new supply going coming online.

Retailers that are most concerned are those performing in the bottom quartile, they’re concerned about keeping their space. When you have high occupancy and performing retailers, there are those at the bottom that are concerned about having real estate. The top of the pack realizes it can go where it wants to go, it’s an interesting dynamic going on – it’s an environment where sales can grow and where projects don’t get built that shouldn’t get built. It’s really agood time for the industry.

GlobeSt.com: What do you see for the future of the retail industry? Do you think there will ever be another large scale mall built in America?

Glimcher: I think that good retail just keeps on getting better, and I think that bad retail just keeps on getting worse. There’s clearly a bifurcation going on. There’s the better quality asset, the market dominant asset, meaning a top mall in a top market, or in a smaller market the dominant asset, these are performing. In a second tier market, or the eighth best mall in a major market, that’s probably not a good place to be.

I hope we don’t see a proliferation of new product. Frankly, I think there’s enough product out there, unless you’re truly looking at an infill site. I think you’ll see a lot more redevelopment and reposition of assets instead of new development. There will be very few large-scale malls built over the next 10 years.

GlobeSt.com: There has been talk by many large companies, especially the public entities, of adding green features to malls. Your trust is building one of the largest solar roofs in the United States on its Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabethtown, NJ. Why do this?

Glimcher: What’s exciting about this, New Jersey has great tax benefits, they really promote energy tax credits, that’s why this project wound up in New Jersey. They’re a very progressive state in that matter. Through a third party, we’re installing this solar roof, it will provide more than 10% of the energy needed for the mall and will really help us provide efficient, well-priced energy to help keep our operating costs down. Number one, it’s green, and two it will ultimately save us money, keep operating expenses down and grow rents. We want to translate being green as much to the bottom line as we do doing the right thing for environment, with this I think there’s the opportunity to do both.

GlobeSt.com: You mentioned infill sites – what do you think about the new trend by retailers of trying to access the urban markets, i.e. Walmart, Target and even Best Buy doing new, smaller stores to get into the cities?

Glimcher: In all cities there’s clearly a trend away from suburban sprawl and back into city center. With this demographic change, you’re going to see retail and buildings repurposed, and will see people living closer in and shopping closer in. Our Scottsdale Quarter project in Scottsdale, AZ is a great example of this, it’s an infill site right in the middle of the population, not on the edge. We redeveloped an old Dial Soap research facility. It’s got some of the most desired tenants in the world, such as Apple and Nike, and we’re in a top-five market.

Also, it’s an open-air, mixed use center. About a third of the space is office, and two thirds of it is retail. Office rents are the top-of-the-market office rents, there’s about 10 world class restaurants, it’s just really helped us redefine our company. The product is performing at well over $700 per foot, making it one of best performing assets in the portfolio. It’s another evolution of the company and is symbolic of where we want to take this organization.

GlobeSt.com: Desired tenants are great, but what about the losses the industry has sustained, and is sustaining, by the continued bankruptcies of large chains the empty storefronts, such as Borders and possibly soon, Blockbuster? Can the industry find equilibrium with these losses and the pick-up in new store demand?

Glimcher: Retail is Darwinism at its finest, and maybe at its fastest. Our job is not always to pick the right retailer, our job is have right location. Retailers that are on top of the world one day will, as sure as ever, not be on top another day. For us it’s having the right real estate, having a broad portfolio of retailers, and trying to make the right choices.

I’ve always used the analogy it’s like catching a shooting star; when retailers hit it big they hit hard and shoot upward, but they eventually fizzle out. The goal for us is to catch them when on its rise, not after starting to fade. We only had two Borders locations and that’s okay, and we’ve got no Blockbuster stores. You limit how many stores you do with everyone and keep a variety of retailers in your portfolio, and ultimately hope you picked them at right time. All retailers will eventually hit the wall.