PARAMUS, NJ-With retail in New Jersey staging a healthy comeback that should continue in 2012, Paramus-based The Goldstein Group is expanding its staff, with Greg Panayoti and Peter Charshafian joining the company as sales associates, says Goldstein president Chuck Lanyard.
The retail sector has moved past surviving the recession to cautious growth as landlords have held rents steady, but still at a 25% discount to pre-recession levels, Lanyard notes.
“This time period of 2011 to 2012 has been a transitional period for retail,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Absorption is finally happening. Space is leasing up. We need new brokers to handle the retailers, and work with the landlords who used to do the leasing themselves.”
Panayoti, a 15-year commercial real estate veteran, began his career in the residential and multifamily sectors, but also owned and operated a family retail ice cream business. Charshafian is a recent graduate of the University of New Haven in West Haven, CT.
New Jersey, though still at an overall retail vacancy rate of 8%, still is far better than national levels, which have hovered around 15%. “A lot has to do with New Jersey’s demographics, and the fact that the unemployment rate is going down,” Lanyard says. “In addition, we had a much stronger than expected holiday sales gain of 4.5%. Just drive around New Jersey and see how many empty stores you find.”
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