CREJ

Page 2 — Retail Properties Quarterly — May 2021 www.crej.com Contents Letter from the Editor T his issue sets an optimistic tone for retail in 2021, albeit with caveats. Contributing to this outlook are the rollback of pandemic-related regulations and increasing consumer confidence to shop and dine in person. One fac- tor for this confidence has to be the prevalence of vaccines. As of press time, almost 47% of Coloradans have received at least one dose of a COVID- 19 vaccine, and almost a third of the population is fully vaccinated. Denver Mayor Michael Han- cock announced a plan for 70% of Den- ver’s population to receive at least one shot by July 1, three days ahead of the same goal announced by President Joe Biden for the nation. It is easy to look at foot traffic/ mobile tracking data to see that peo- ple really are getting out more. A chart on Page 22 from SafeGraph breaks down Denver’s foot traffic since Jan. 1.While there’s a major dip in March, reflective of a blizzard that blanketed the state, the general activity patterns tracked are pretty fascinating. All the categories tracked – grocery stores, malls, gyms, restaurants and movie theaters – have seen increased foot traffic since January. One somewhat surprising note: Denverites have really missed going to the movies – with visits skyrocketing, which is nice to see as early in the pan- demic there were a lot of questions regarding this product type. Placer.ai, another firm that uses mobile analytics to track retail visits and duration, offers a national per- spective. Earlier this year, the firm released a report for the predicted winners of 2021, largely based on pat- terns it was tracking all of last year. Its winners for the coming year: Kohl’s, traditional grocers (including Kroger), home goods (including At Home and HomeGoods), Planet Fitness, malls and Dollar General. While traditional grocers enjoyed an exceptional year in 2020, as the year was coming to a close, both the num- ber of visits and the duration of visits were increasing, with Kroger seeing a 7.7% increase in time spent in the store from June through Novem- ber year over year. “These are huge leaps, and when taken alongside visit growth, present a powerful picture,” the 2021Winners – Early Predictions Placer.ai report stated. “Not only are these brands seeing more visitors, but they are seeing those visitors spend more time at the locations, even while visits-per-visitor numbers declined for the same period year over year.” For malls, the report paints a rosy picture, largely because people just miss visiting them, the retail mix inside is changing and mall owners are proving more aggressive and cre- ative. Michelle Z. Askeland maskeland@crej.com 303-623-1148, Ext. 104 Examining foot traffic Retail outlook offers a complex path forward Ken McCarthy Colorado Springs readies for retail activity take off Whitney Johnson Investment market continues to gain momentum Drew Isaac Are impact fees another name for hidden inflation? Peter Sengelmann Evaluating COVID-19’s effect on retail, 1 year later Brian J. Connolly and Alexandra A. Haggarty Bright and weak spots for Colorado’s retail future Rich Otterstetter 2020 aftermath: Savings for capital improvements Chris L’Heureux, Jackie Noland and Derek Woodworth Virtual kitchens: Restaurant landscape reinvention Hannah Pearson Colorado grocers need to revisit their assets Joe McKeska Innovation is coming for food and grocery vendors Stefan Read 4 6 8 10 12 14 18 19 20 21