While there has been debate about the issue for years, the idea of an internet sales tax has gained steam recently, with the U.S. Senate passing the Marketplace Fairness Act in early May, and President Obama on the record as supporting it. In my opinion, the impact of an internet sales tax is two-fold. Online […]
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Reflections on RECon 2013
There was certainly a lot of buzz throughout the industry prior to RECon 2013 in Las Vegas, signaling a positive shift from what we’ve seen the past few years at the conference. I wholly expected to see a lot of momentum building around redevelopment opportunities. To my surprise, it seemed like there was more interest […]
Conference Call
With the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) Spring Convention in Las Vegas just one week away, I’m seeing a lot of positive energy leading up to the event that has gotten my attention. From jam-packed schedules to more social events and sold out room and lodging packages, the excitement is contagious. In this week’s […]
Flipping the Coin
When Ron Johnson took over as CEO of J.C. Penney 17 months ago, he unveiled some ambitious plans to get the iconic brand back on track. The fact that Johnson is now ex-CEO paints a picture of how well his changes went over. Still, while Johnson may have had some missteps along the way, I […]
SPECS-ulation About the Future of Retail Real Estate
I recently attended Chain Store Age’s 49th annual SPECS conference where they debuted a brand new Real Estate Development segment. While I always come away from SPECS with plenty to think about, this new track provided some interesting insight into subjects impacting retailers and developers specifically, and I was privileged enough participate in the new […]
Boxing Out
I’ve talked a lot about the downsizing trend over the past several months, but lately I’ve begun to wonder at what point we stop looking at this as a trend and begin looking at it as a fundamental shift in the big box and power center dynamic. In my latest Retail Rap column, I examine […]
