The future of Radio Shack appears to be in jeopardy. The news got me thinking about the hot retailers to target as replacements, or just to target as draws for your center.
- Apple store. No duh. Every Apple store is incredibly successful. They generate large sales because they have great products and provide a great retail experience for the customer. And this is not just a fad. Apple is probably here for a while.
- Health Food Restaurants. Restaurants are now key components for any vibrant center and the health food category is relatively new with few players, and under-represented in most centers. True Food Kitchen, LYFE Kitchen and Northstar Café are great draws and great restaurants.
- Lululemon. My kids love their clothing, and they don’t even Yoga. Lululemon goes well when paired with health food restaurants too.
- Beer and Wine. Bars and restaurants specializing in a large variety of craft beers, are great draws – think Yardhouse and Pies & Pints. Life is too short to drink cheap beer. (Although I will admit that Miller High Life is my house brand.) Beer is not just for breakfast any more. You get the idea. Along the same lines, wine bars and wineries are great attractions – think Cooper’s Hawk. Man can not live by beer alone.
- Nordstrom. Department stores are less ubiquitous than in the past, but having a Nordstrom in your center is a huge win. Nordstrom is a very definite draw and provides a great retail experience for its customers.
- Anthropologie. Scott Fox of Steiner + Associates says his kids love this store, even if they can’t afford to buy anything there. Anthropologie is a draw: it attracts both shoppers and other retailers who want to be in the same centers. And more often than not Scott is buying his kids the stuff they can’t afford.
- Fast Casual. Big growth in this segment. Chipotle, Piada, Fusion, and Noodles & Co. are examples and they are always busy.
- Amazon. You can buy anything on Amazon, and you can get it cheaper than anywhere else. I just have a suspicion that Amazon will branch out to have brick and mortar locations very soon. Given their performance in internet sales, you would have to think they would succeed with retail stores too.
These are just a few that came to mind. Put these in your center, and at least you will get me to come.