Leading up to RECon, we are partnering with a number of firms that are telling our readers what to expect from the show this year, and how the market is doing in general. One of those outfits is Transwestern (RECon booth C132F). Patrick Owens, senior vice president of retail advisory services for Transwestern in Chicago spoke with us about the retailers he is seeing expanding and what he expects from the coming convention.

"The restaurant guys are strong. Starbucks and Caribou Coffee are doing deals again, which is nice. Five Guys is extremely hot here. Ross Dress For Less is expanding across the Midwest. This was a big hole in their development plan, and it has attacked the Midwest pretty swiftly. Hhgregg is another player that is attacking the Midwest. A big segment that we’re seeing growth in is fitness. Those deals will be active at the show. The mainstays like L.A. Fitness are doing deals, but CorePower Yoga is pretty active in our market and there’s also this whole discounter segment. We are representing a startup retailer called Zip Fitness which is competing with Planet Fitness and Blast Fitness, which are East Coast mainstays.

I’m not sure that we’ll necessarily see different types of deals. Obviously there is going to be a heavy emphasis on backfilling second-generation space, versus new development. We’ll definitely see a lot less paper. A majority of people are transferring over to the iPad. That is a change that we started to see last year, and we will see this year. That’s probably good for everybody. Gone are the days carrying around shopping bags full of fliers. But from a deal standpoint, it’s definitely an emphasis on second-generation space. The rest of the emphasis that we’re seeing is on urban infill. That will continue as well. The greenfield development of the past is definitely on hold."