Really interesting story from CNBC that says that for the first time restaurant sales are now surpassing supermarket sales, and more importantly, are driving retail sales and people to malls.
“It changes the landscape of retail real estate fundamentally, because what we have is a really fundamental shift in the different categories that are performing well and those that are struggling,” said Melina Cordero, CBRE’s head of retail research in the Americas. “With restaurants that are coming in with strong, high growth, they’re sort of the saving grace for landlords of these retail spaces to come in and drive traffic and sales.”
Finally, from Wolfgang Puck in Las Vegas to Bryan Voltaggio in Washington, D.C., the celebrity chef restaurant is fast becoming the new department store as a retail anchor. Consumers, however, say they may be drawn in by the name, but if they’re going to keep coming back, the food had better be good.
This is a common theme you should be reading about when it comes to commercial real estate and success in Vegas. As food becomes the “new anchor,” and online versus offline are more and blurred, we need to understand what this means to our business. Retail Trends to Watch in 2016: Food as the True Anchor is a great article about this, and highly recommended.
