An Inside Guide to Shopping Center Management and Leasing

Retail Shopping Center Management and Leasing is potentially a lucrative part of the real estate business.  In saying that, the right people with the specialized expertise are required in the management and leasing team to produce the retail results. (NB – you can get our shopping center leasing and management tips here)

Those property results can occur from improved local customer attraction, tenant controls, property marketing, and landlord services.  Highly performing retail properties will typically be vibrant customer and tenant mix environments; they will attract sales and retain customer interest.   Retail property professionals know how to make those things happen.

Well selected and well placed existing shop tenants can always help when it comes to attracting the customers in reasonable volume.  So, there is a balance to achieve with retail stores, across sales, marketing, and customer interest.  Look at what you have now in the tenant mix and what you can improve.

What can you do with this?

The success of a retail property will generate through factors of customer attraction, tenant encouragement, property marketing, and cash flow control. Every tenant placement within a retail property should be from an investment perspective and a tenant mix balance.

Here are some ideas to help you establish a performance-based retail asset management blueprint:

1. SURVEY: Review other shopping centers in the overall area precinct to understand just what is happening when it comes to customer attraction, store offerings, and retail sales. Some shopping malls will be more successful than others, so know why that is the case and where those properties are. There is a requirement here to review the tenancy mix and customer interest in every competing property. Look at every competing property to understand just where there may be a competitive advantage or local attraction to develop.
2. RETAIL CONDITIONS: Research shop vacancies, market rents, and customer numbers for your location. Get the figures, so you know what is happening in retail locally and why that is the case.  Sales and shopping trends over time will help you see the merchandise groups that are more attractive to customers today in and across a tenant mix.
3. TENANT MIX ATTRACTION: What are people looking for today in a retail precinct or property? A well-designed tenant mix will have a lot to do with the factors of customer attraction.  Do a customer survey for the location to see what people think about other properties and tenant offerings.
4. SHOP VACANCIES: Vacancies are a concern, so review the lease expiries coming up, the sales per shop, and merchandise group, and the customer counts. You will soon see patterns that are useful in planning property improvement and tenant mix changes.

These things help you understand the pressures of the local real estate market, the shopping environment, and the property itself.  You can make some valuable decisions from these numbers and facts.