Are Restaurants Really Safe From Ecommerce?

David Shulman is a senior economist at the UCLA Anderson Forecast.

Restaurants are dominating tenant leasing activity at retail shopping centers as retail owners look for tenants that are ecommerce resistant. Quick service platforms have been particularly popular for shopping centers, and many small chains have increased their footprints as a result. David Shulman, senior economist for the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and UCLA Anderson Forecast, however, thinks that some retail owners may be overdoing restaurant leases because they might not be as Internet resistant as some owners believe.

While sit-down and quick service concepts have increased, Internet and delivery orders have also increased. Shulman says that there may be delivery-only business models that pop-up to fulfill Internet orders. “I think retail owners are overdoing restaurants. Restaurants aren’t immune because you can order online and have the food delivered,” he tells GlobeSt.com.