Retailers Retool for the E-Commerce Era

CHICAGO—The recent bankruptcy of Sears, one of America’s most iconic retailers, has focused yet more attention on the troubled sector. And no one doubts that the rise of e-commerce has altered how people shop, and will continue shaking brick-and-mortar retailers for the foreseeable future. At the same time, however, many in the commercial real estate sector also see opportunities coming into focus as the reconstruction of the sector continues.

“I am a lot more optimistic than I was 12 months ago,” Anthony Campagni of A▪R▪C Real Estate Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “This is more of a retail evolution than a retail apocalypse. The fear that retail will be destroyed seems to be past us.”

Campagni, who helped establish RKF in Chicago, just joined up with Andy Robbins and Al Rodenbostel, the principals and founders of ARCORE Real Estate Group, to start A▪R▪C, which will serve new and existing retail clients in Chicago and nationally, and cover both urban and suburban markets.

What Campagni finds heartening about today’s retail landscape is that business owners, even those that have put a lot of effort into building e-commerce operations, now “realize they need to establish some kind of brick-and-mortar presence.”

Obviously, a business that until recently thrived with four or five stores may no longer need so many outlets, he adds, but it will still need perhaps two, each located in a neighborhood which will help establish its brand. And finding just the right neighborhood to do so, and creating just the right atmosphere, could require more effort than simply signing a lease for a certain amount of space.

He points to Aesop, an Australia-based skin care company, as a good example. The firm recently established its first Chicago location in the Bucktown neighborhood, and to reflect the area’s history, lined it with thousands of reclaimed Chicago bricks. It then opened outlets in affluent Lincoln Park and the burgeoning Fulton Market district. “It’s a young, hip brand, and they wanted to be where their customers live.”

Robbins and Rodenbostel formed ARCORE in 2011 to specialize in retail brokerage services. Over the last eight years they have built a team offering services that include landlord and tenant representation, market research as well as investment and acquisition services. In forming A ▪ R ▪ C with Campagni, they joined together “three like-minded retail professionals along with an established team of brokers we’ve individually and collectively been working with for years,” says Rodenbostel.

The combined team has a client base of owners and landlords throughout IL, WI and IN, including Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, Apple, Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market, Panera Bread, Verizon Wireless and many more. Campagni’s accomplishments include the relocation of Apple’s Chicago flagship location from 679 N. Michigan Ave. to 401 N. Michigan Ave.

Campagni says that, based on what he sees in the market, this week’s ICSC deal making conference, which begins at Navy Pier on the 17^th, should be quite active. “We’re busier now than we were nine months ago.”