“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Normally, that’s a smart move. But we’re hoping that’s not the case with the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) annual Global Retail Real Estate Convention we attended recently.With more than 50,000 attendees, this is the Mecca of retail recruitment. National retailers, real estate brokers, and developers make the trek each year to find the perfect location for that next retail expansion.
For the past seven years, The Partnership and Baltimore Development Corporation, in conjunction with local sponsors, have hosted a booth at the trade show. The main purpose, pure and simple, is to bring more shops and restaurants to Baltimore.
We go to ICSC armed with an arsenal of stats and data. More often than not, we're introducing people to the real Baltimore for the first time (not the wild west version they may have seen on TV). And, across the board people are impressed, and surprised, by what the data shows.
As we just released in the latest State of Downtown Baltimore Report, Downtown has 114,000 employees, 38,000 residents, and 20,000 students. Not to mention millions of visitors each year. We rank 7th in the country for population density, 15th for employment density, and 9th for the number of households earning $75K or more -- which puts us in a peer group with places like Denver and Boston.
So instead of hitting the casinos we spent our time in Vegas reviewing demographics, courting potential redevelopment opportunities, and marketing available retail spaces. We had formal meetings with more than 30 companies, some of which we’re trying to bring here. Others are here already, but we hope they’ll expand to additional locations.
It often takes years to bring a new retailer into a market and we work with them throughout the entire process, introducing them to local developers and real estate brokers, helping match the business with the right location, and assisting with building permits, signage, or marketing… whatever it takes.
After decades without much in the way of shopping, Downtown is re-emerging as a retail destination. When Filenes Basement opened last year it marked the return of department stores to Downtown. SuperFresh has opened in City Center. Lockwood Place and Harbor East are thriving. So, too, are retail corridors in Downtown’s adjacent neighborhoods like in Mount Vernon, Federal Hill, Locust Point.
Despite a slow national economy, the pace of Downtown retail openings should pick up. Whether or not these new deals started in Vegas, opening retail in Downtown is no gamble.
-nan
