There is certainly a lot of branding activity going on in retail real estate right now. First DDR officially changed its name, and now the former Centro Properties Group is calling itself Brixmor.
Of course, the situations are very different. DDR changed its name to reflect a changing consumer environment that is based on value retail. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Centro switch has more to do with the stigma attached to the name.
Centro was acquired up by the Blackstone Group recently for $9 billion. Apparently, the new ownership wants to forget about the bad publicity Centro received due to its $16 billion debt load. The Journal also refers to the firm as the second-largest shopping center company behind Kimco Realty Trust.
Brixmor is an abbreviation of bricks and mortar. It "symbolizes the convergence of our value-creation capabilities with the real estate objectives of our current and future retailers" says Brixmor CEO Michael Carroll, in a press release.
Are there any companies out there that you would like to see go through name changes? Will tenants even care or pay attention to these moves?
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