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Page 22 — Retail Properties Quarterly — February 2018
O ne of life’s few certain-
ties is change. Change is
everywhere around us and
it should not be surpris-
ing our retail landscape
is changing rapidly too. Who in
the aviation business would have
thought passengers could sim-
ply have boarding passes without
assigned seats? Who in the auto-
motive business thought five years
ago that self-driving cars would
be highly likely by 2020? Huge
shifts are occurring across almost
every type of business as we work
smarter and speed of connectivity
to our colleagues is instantaneous.
We see it in how companies are
building their offices in more open,
collaborative manners and adding
amenities never dreamed of before.
All done in an effort to retain the
best and brightest.
So why should retail be immune?
As retail property owners from
regional malls to neighborhood
grocery-anchored centers renovate,
redevelop and re-tenant, some
trends in strategy are emerging.
Food and beverage along with
entertainment are becoming a
much larger part of the tenant mix.
For example, at
Park Meadows,
you can valet park
your car and just
feet away are Yard
House and Perry’s
Steak House. This
makes it easy
to enjoy a quick
beer or two with
buddies at Yard
House, stroll over
to Arhaus to pick
up a couple items
and meet your date for a great din-
ner at Perry’s. A highly efficient
lifestyle model! Note: Many malls
now are called lifestyle centers …
maybe a coincidence, but lifestyle
centers are a better description for
how we trade as consumers. Retail
experiences are daily occurrences
rather than a big planned outing.
Entertainment and fitness are
other categories seeing tremen-
dous growth in Colorado’s retail
sector. Theater chains are adding
significant upgrades to their seat-
ing and food and beverage options
to accommodate the clientele’s
desire for a higher level of product.
Examples of this can be seen with
companies like AMC and Landmark
Theatres in our area.
Fitness companies of all shapes
and sizes are vying to control geog-
raphy through the Denver metro. A
newer center that exemplifies how
well this category fits is Cornerstar
Shopping Center. The standalone
24 Hour Fitness is a great looking
building that blends well with the
shopping center. The full parking
lot looks great too!
Another evolution is retail
becoming something not retail at
all. As projects are being contem-
plated, built or redeveloped; multi-
family residential, hotel and office
uses are a part of almost every
plan. Belmar Shopping Center is
a great example of this. If current
trends persist with e-commerce
and the resizing of many retailers,
more opportunities to add these
integrated lifestyle components
will surface in existing centers.
One thing that hasn’t changed
a bit in retail is it all comes down
to the operator. Company culture,
training, being fiscally disciplined
and being a partner continue to
be what separate the best retailers
from everyone else.
As Bob Dylan said, “We all gotta
serve someone.” In retail, you need
to wake up and ask yourself: Who
am I going to serve today.V
Retail Trends
Matt Writt
Vice president,
retail, JLL, Denver
Park Meadows
Food and beverage along with entertainment are becoming a much larger part of the
tenant mix for successful shopping centers.
Entertainment and fitness are other
categories seeing tremendous growth
in Colorado’s retail sector.