Michael Monteleone’s Post

How long would you wait? Today is the grand opening of Randy’s donuts in Phoenix, Arizona. Are you the type of person who likes to go to the #grandopening ? Generally, I like to let the hype wear down. But this store is in my area of focus and I wanted to share this video with you. #retailrealestate #commercialrealestate #arizona #marketupdate #drivingmymarket

I know the feeling. You're trying to get your new store built before the end-of-year deadline, or you'll be opening that new store soon to start the new year strong and make a big splash in a new market or territory. Take advantage of a few tips to make sure the new store you have put so much blood, sweat, and tears (and $) into, is a wild success! #storeopening

This article comes out on the heels of a post I made yesterday. Not directly related- but outside of the ever evolving retail landscape and the move to shop online as Matt Garfield stated, department stores such as Macy's have been known to offer a vast amount of categories and sku's and a more than confusing promo pricing strategy. This almost always leads to an overwhelming shopping experience for the customer- especially if you are trying to attract a digitally savvy consumer as a way to evolve. More consumers are choosing quality over quantity and brands and companies that are experts in their specific niche. That niche💡, however, could be anything as long as its claimed, proven, and executed with excellence. ➡️ From a product category, to specific manufacturing processes, to their in store experiences, all the way to offering amazing value at the right time at the right prices ** 😉 aka off price. Cheering Tony Spring and the Macy's team on as they build their bold new chapter. Amy Pocsik Brenda M. Salamone Sally Marrer Meghan Houle, ACC #retailstrategy #retailinnovation

🛍️ Can JCPenney be revived? JCPenney has been struggling for years. 📌 After emerging from a Chapter 11 reorg and closing a little over 200 stores, the company now plans to invest $1 billion to revitalize its flailing brand. Will it be enough? Placer.ai reports that traffic is down ⬇️ 24% in JC Penney stores, but the CEO is looking for more than just a facelift. The company plans to go back to its roots of core middle-income shoppers with affordable fashion and houseware offerings. With a lingering cloud over the brand’s image, can JCPenney be revived? I think so, but they have to go all out to bring their core customers back in; form new partnerships; catch up to today's technology; launch exciting in-store brands, promotions and events; enhance their social media presence, and leverage the vestiges of the brand recognition they have before it's too late. Younger generations simply don’t have a connection with the brand that their parents have. It’s now or never. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! ⬇️ Read the article here https://bit.ly/46cbJkv #TSCG #CREtail #RetailStores #CRE #Retail

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MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION – AND THE CUSTOMERS WILL REMEMBER YOU   I have opened 100+ stores in my retail years. Store openings are always exciting, full of pressure, a little bit despair and finally fulfilment, when store is opened. Not all openings have succeeded although there has been lots of skill and motivation on the work. One thing though I have learned: the successful store opening is really important. If you have a great grand opening, it will have a long-lasting affect. When the customers have a good grand opening experience, they have a positive image of the store. Good grand opening also has a huge impact on store staff. The team spirit will be strong, and it carries the staff for a long period.   In creating the first impression in new store the details really matter. When the store is clean, well-stocked, nicely displayed, well-lit and have a pleasant atmosphere, it will be great for the store. Important part of the nice atmosphere is the staff behavior and attitude. Smiling, happy staff builds trust. When you have a great grand opening, it will start a circle of good. Customers are happy and thus also staff is happy.   I visited a new supermarket in a new mall in the city of Vantaa. This new supermarket is part of the S-group, the format is S-market. I was impressed in many ways: the entrance was impressive and first display superb and timely – note the Halloween pumpkins. The lighting in the store was interesting, quite modest on the aisles, but really effective on displays. The whole ambience gave a high-quality image, which should be so since the store was brand new. Staff was smiling and welcoming customers in the new store. It will be interesting to visit this place after few months and see, if they have maintained the high standards.   Building a new store is a big investment. Making the investment successful secures the planned payback. You can only open new store once. If the grand opening fails, it will take a long time to turn the store to right direction. The higher standards you have, the better you motivate and inspire your staff the better frame you have for the successful opening. Only way to learn how to make a great grand opening is to make a lot of grand openings. #grandopening #impresscustomers #retailisdetail #openingnewstore #retailmarketing #retailstandards

"Unlike Walmart, which remained in the Walton family, or Target, which handled its transformation from family-owned business to public corporation far better, Kmart underwent very early rapid growth and then began a long period of coasting and decline." "While Kmart has long been viewed as a sort of downmarket Walmart clone, it’s worth noting that Kmart came first—not just because the company that became Kmart goes back to 1899, but because the opening of the first modern Kmart in 1962 beat the opening of the first Walmart by a few months. It was not until the 1990s that Walmart became a major national player in the discount department store industry. It’s more accurate to say that Walmart beat Kmart at its own game than that Kmart failed to properly imitate Walmart." "Like Kmart, Howard Johnson’s made several attempts to revitalize its business. A parade of managers who had none of the personal investment of the chain’s founder, Howard Deering Johnson, successively took the reins. The company began to introduce new restaurant concepts, and it underwent a series of acquisitions as well as the division of its hotel and restaurant businesses. All of this flux and churn depressed morale, eroded managerial continuity, and left the once-great restaurant half of the company to fend for itself as its numbers dwindled." "Throughout this long, slow decline, nobody seriously attempted a “reboot” of the company; nobody bothered to attempt monetizing whatever goodwill the name still held, by, say, bringing back the real recipes of the famous 28 flavors of ice cream. That kind of investment or passion or capital was gone." "Despite the former ubiquity of both Howard Johnson’s and Kmart—and notwithstanding the nostalgia of their small communities of fans—both chains have left hardly a trace in the popular culture. In business, as in life, past performance is no guarantee of future results. The demise of Howard Johnson’s, and likewise that of Kmart, is a cautionary business tale. But it’s also a humbling and almost spooky story." Kmart Elegy A formerly dominant American retail chain nears extinction by Addison Del Mastro The Bulwark (X: @BulwarkOnline) https://lnkd.in/ed7hFsgj And here is an article showing images of the rise and fall of a store whose building was once the tallest department store in the world and which in the course of the decline of the city of Detroit was eventually demolished in 1998. But as history seems to be like a revolving door (Jorge Drexler dixit) a new building has been erected on this site that will house the headquarters of another company that has also seen better times in the past, GM (https://lnkd.in/egtC4395) The life and death of Hudson's department store The Detroit News https://lnkd.in/eRzShcBe

Macy's just announced that they will be closing 150 underperforming stores and have plans to monetize between $600 to $750 million of assets through 2026. I am actually shocked that Macy's is still around. I remember hearing about the retail apocalypse in 2017-2018 and 6 years later, Macy's is still standing. It is amazing to think that one generation ago, a department store like Macy's was an anchor tenant that entire shopping malls could be built around and now the stores are ghost towns. How many of the old department stores that used to anchor malls across America will be left in another 25 years? I doubt there will be any. If I had to guess, the next generation probably won't even know what a department store is. The good news is, people will keep needing apartments, so maybe now is a great time to invest with Matheson Capital at the link in the comments. #commercialrealestateinvesting #realestateinvesting #passiveincome #passiveinvesting