REBNY Panel Confronts Gap Between Retail Sales and Rent

From left: REBNY panelists Richard Wagman, Brad Mendelson, Michael Goldban and Robin Abrams

NEW YORK CITY—Figuring out the winning formula of how retailers can best work with Internet sales remains elusive.

Richard Wagman, managing partner at Madison Capital, wryly stated after Amazon put almost every bookstore out of business, the company opened a bookstore at the Time Warner Center—“and it’s horrible.”

“I don’t get it. Amazon said, ‘You have to see our store at Columbus Circle. It’s a real experiential store,’” said Wagman. “I walked into the store and I was like, ‘Actually, it’s kind of like a sh*tty Barnes & Noble.’”

Real Estate Board of New York panelists on Wednesday confronted the blunt facts facing retail. During the past 15 years, real estate professionals pushed and expanded to add urban, street-level, retail shops throughout the city. Sales had increased by 7% to 9% and rents went up as well. However, that story has changed.