Heading to ICSC’s RECon This Weekend?

GlobeSt.com is providing wall-to-wall coverage of ICSC’s RECon show in Las Vegas May 19-22. Subscribe to the Retail Ticket for pre-event articles, live video interviews on site and post-conference analysis.

LAS VEGAS—At this year’s ICSC RECon, you’ll continue to see the evolution of real estate technology and the impact it is having on the retail industry. That is according to Tom Buxton, president and CEO of Buxton Co., who chatted with GlobeSt.com before heading out to the event.

According to Buxton, “The real estate process has come a long way from the early days of demographic studies and boots-on-the-ground research. Look for technology integrations aimed at streamlining the real estate lifecycle – such as Buxton’s new relationship with CoStar, alternative data sources, international analytics and more.

We also chatted with CBRE’s Brian Bruzek, a SVP based in the Philadelphia office, who said that “US retail is doing well, despite the well-publicized struggles of a few companies.”

For Bruzek, he looks forward to speaking with several retailers and retail-center owners at RECon about expansion opportunities, creative uses for big-box spaces, food-and-beverage opportunities and supply-chain strategies.

CBRE’s Joe Dunlap, managing director of CBRE supply chain advisory says that retail has always been dependent upon supply chain capabilities. At the show, Dunlap looks forward to discussing supply chain strategies with retailers at RECon.  “The recent past has witnessed major disruption in retail, which has digitalized segments like books, movies and music and more.  As consumers continue to evolve their buying behaviors to take advantage of new channels, supply chains and retail space will continue to evolve to meet consumer demands.”

We also caught up with Lori Bongiorno, M+A Architects principal and director of Commercial Studio, who said that as for what to expect from the show, as a company that works in a variety of sectors in addition to retail, she is most excited for the new health and wellness center, workshops and about co-working spaces and ancillary development at existing retail centers, and seeing how developers are incorporating uses such as multi-family and hospitality into their projects this year. Those sectors, she tells GlobeSt.com, “are all important components to the success of mixed-use centers today, so it is great to see them included. I look forward to seeing how they will be integrated into the show.”

As for what she is look forward to most, Bongiorno tells GlobeSt.com is it continuing to build relationships with clients and peers in the industry including seeing people she might not have seen since last year. “It’s an opportunity to collaborate and idea share. I also look forward to the design section and visiting the booths with project models to see what other developers are doing. I always find it inspiring.”

Keep checking back for more in the coming weeks for wall-to-wall coverage surrounding the Las Vegas ICSC RECon show and overall trends in the retail market.