‘Tis the Season for Giving!
For it is in giving that we receive. –Francis of Assisi
Team Stirling Properties once again teamed up with Volunteers of America to participate in the Christmas Wish “Angel” Project. For the 7th year, our company donated Christmas gifts and other essential items to local families in need across our Gulf South region.
The annual Christmas Wish Project helped bring joy and holiday cheer to families and individuals who might not have had a Christmas this year. Through Volunteers of America (VOA), participating families submitted “wish list” gift items for each individual. The wishes were noted on paper angels and hung on the company Christmas tree where Stirling Properties and employees could select and grant them. In all, 11 families and more than 60 children, adults and seniors received Christmas gifts.
Stirling Properties’ Stewardship Committee organized the company-wide events by partnering with Volunteers of America in Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge and the Southeast to serve the New Orleans Northshore and Southshore, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Mobile communities.
In addition to donating gifts to the Christmas Wish Project, Stirling Properties hosted its fourth annual Northpark Christmas Bazaar, Bake Sale & Raffle on Thursday, November 29th. Local vendors, as well as employees of the Northpark office complex sold baked goodies, crafts, jewelry, ornaments, artwork, beauty products and many other great gift items.
The Christmas Bazaar raised $3,000 which was also donated in full to Volunteers of America to assist more families in our area with emergency holiday needs.
Team Stirling Properties also held a ‘Tis The Season Day,’ where employees donated money for the opportunity to wear their favorite Stirling gear to work (or Saintsmas gear, of course!). The day raised $315 that will benefit the VOA Christmas Wish Project as well.
The Holiday Season is a time for gratitude, generosity and giving back to our region. Stirling Properties is committed to supporting the communities where we live and work, and we will continue to support local nonprofits, community groups and charitable organizations throughout the year and beyond.
Thank you to all of the vendors, donors and shoppers who made this project a huge success. On behalf or Stirling Properties, we wish you and yours a joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!
For more information about Stirling’s Stewardship Committee, please visit our website or contact us by email at stewardship@stirlingprop.com.
“The Halo Effect” shines light on significance of physical stores
Brick-and-mortar stores have a bright future in the retail industry, and now we have data to prove it. We’ve heard the widely drawn-out debate of clicks vs. bricks—or the speculations that e-commerce will cause the demise of physical stores. However, according to a recent report by ICSC, “The Halo Effect: How Bricks Impact Clicks,” brick-and-mortar stores are essential to the success of retailers.
The “halo effect” is defined as the tendency for an impression created in one area to influence another. ICSC’s study, the largest of its kind, explores and quantifies how physical store locations impact a brand’s digital presence. Here are a few of its key findings:
- Opening one new physical store in a market results in an average 37% increase in overall traffic to that retailer’s website and increases its share of web traffic within that market by an average of 27%.
- The opposite is also true as web traffic tends to fall when stores close. In one case, the share of web traffic across the markets where a store closed declined up to 77%.
- For emerging brands, defined as those less than 10 years old, new store openings drive an average 45% increase in web traffic following a store opening. For comparison, established retailers experience an average 36% boost in web traffic.
These findings confirm the direct correlation between a retailers’ physical and digital presence. When retailers invest in brick-and-mortar stores, their online presence thrives. The opposite is also true: closing stores causes a drop in the share of web traffic.
Furthermore, the study shows that not only do physical retail locations drive digital engagement, but also positively impact brand perception and help to attract new customers. Markets where retailers have a physical presence perform better on brand health metrics (including awareness, consumer perceptions, and willingness to recommend) compared with national benchmarks.
Today’s digitally empowered, high-maintenance consumer expects convenience and choices in how, when, and where they shop. They want an assortment of options to make purchases—aka omnichannel buying. However, physical stores remain the dominant method for building, growing, and sustaining brands.
Physical stores allow shoppers the ability to see, feel, taste, and truly experience a brand or product that they’re buying. Engagement and social connection in a physical store also play a vital role in the satisfaction level of the consumer and overall experience. Most importantly, physical stores allow retailers the unrivaled opportunity to interact with consumers and gain in-depth data and insight far beyond what online shopping could ever allow.
In the retail game, successful stores are marrying e-commerce and physical components, giving consumers purchasing options like click-and-collect, click-and-ship, and showroom models, enhancing the brick-and-mortar shopping experience and boosting sales at physical stores.
So much so that many once pure-play online retailers are moving into brick-and-mortar stores. E-commerce retailers plan to open 850 physical stores across the U.S. in the next five years. Many online brands have already started a push for physical stores, including Warby Parker, Rent The Runway, Glossier, Adore Me, Allbirds, even giants like Amazon and Wayfair are realizing the importance of a brick-and-mortar retail strategy. Both new and established brands are investing in stores and transforming clicks into bricks.
Brick-and-mortar stores should be a part of any retail strategy because they drive web traffic, improve brand health, and encourage in-store shopping. Still, retailers must continue to evolve to be successful and stay relevant in today’s fast-paced landscape. Retailers that provide more in their stores than the opportunity to make purchases will likely flourish—from the home improvement store that offers DIY workshops to the athletic store that offers simulated sporting games.
So, physical stores do matter—and the findings of this report confirm that. As e-commerce sales continue to grow year over year, those retailers that adapt and create a true multi-channel experience, leveraging both the assets of physical and digital, will come out on top.
Thank you to ICSC for compiling this insightful report. Hardcore data can’t be disputed. The retail apocalypse is over; let’s move on to the Renaissance!
To read the entire report, click here.
Retail Market Survey: Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
Stirling Properties releases its Shreveport-Bossier City Retail Market Survey for mid-year 2018.
According to the assessment—compiled by Stacy Odom and Karen McElroy, Broker Associates with Stirling Properties—the Shreveport–Bossier City retail sector is currently in the midst of a recovery phase. After experiencing a period of increased retail vacancy, the area is seeing the entry of new discount retailers, new-to-market retailers and food concepts, as well as multi-store operators gobbling up available inventory of second-generation space. Without notable new development in the market, this aids in decreasing vacancy rates, particularly among neighborhood shopping centers.
The retail market survey identified a total of fifty-seven (57) multi-tenant retail centers with a minimum of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet in Shreveport-Bossier City with 90% total occupancy as of mid-year 2018.
Looking to the future, the emergence of healthcare facilities in retail settings and the potential for mixed-use redevelopment projects backfilling big-box stores are both noteworthy national trends expected to influence the Shreveport-Bossier City market, possibly having an additional impact on retail space moving forward.
Click here to view and download the complete Shreveport-Bossier City Retail Market Survey.
This report is intended to give the reader a broad understanding of the market as well as specific information about the available square footage, occupancy and rental rates of each retail center greater than twenty thousand (20,000) square feet. It was created to be a resource for agents as well as tenants, landlords, developers, lenders, fellow brokers and anyone else looking for information about the Shreveport-Bossier City retail market.
Stirling Properties Expands Management Portfolio
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company has assumed the property management duties of Waterside Marketplace in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, as part of an ongoing partnership with PMAT Real Estate Investments.
Stirling Properties partnered with New Orleans-based PMAT to manage the company’s growing portfolio of shopping centers located across the Southeast, Sunbelt, Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest.
PMAT recently acquired Waterside Marketplace, a 291,231-square-foot retail center located at 50753 Waterside Drive in Chesterfield Township (Detroit MSA), at the southwest intersection of 23 Mile Road and Interstate 94. The multi-anchored center is 94% leased with a great mix of national tenants including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, T.J.Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, ULTA Beauty, JOANN Fabrics & Crafts, and Old Navy. The center is also shadow-anchored by JCPenney and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Waterside Marketplace is the dominant regional shopping center within the growing Chesterfield Township trade area.
“Stirling Properties is pleased to welcome Waterside Marketplace to our growing management portfolio. This is a leading retail center that serves a large portion of Detroit’s suburban area around Chesterfield Township and performs very well in the market,” said Donna Taylor, Sr. Vice President of Asset Management & New Business with Stirling Properties. “We look forward to working with PMAT on the management and operations of the center to enhance it even more.”
Stirling Properties owns and manages more than 20 million square feet of commercial real estate, including office, retail, industrial, medical, residential, and mixed-use properties.
For asset management information, contact Donna Taylor at (985) 246-3758 or dtaylor@stirlingprop.com.
Chipping In For Charity
Local charities score big during
Stirling Properties’ Annual Stirling Invitational Golf Tournament
Stirling Properties hosted its 18th Annual Stirling Invitational Golf Tournament on Monday, October 8th at University Club Plantation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This year’s tournament successfully raised more than $25,000 for local charities!
113 participants enjoyed a variety of friendly competitions in addition to 18 holes of scramble golf tournament play. Congratulations to the 1st Place Low Net winners, Stuart Bonaventure, Ryan Juneau, BJ Branigan and Trent Sandahl. The Low Gross winning team included Andy Coleman, David Laizer, Tommy Buckel and Dennis Shill.
The Longest Drive award went to Marc Bourgeois, and Closest to the Pin prizes were presented to Eric Landry, Paul Geyer and Chip Songy. Additional awards were given for 2nd, 3rd and 4th Low Gross and Low Net. A special shout out to the Highest Gross scoring team, William McKnight, Beau Egan, Elliot Turner and Neal Choppin.
However, the real winners of the day were the local nonprofit organizations that benefited from the tournament proceeds. Ochsner Foundation received $10,000 from the proceeds, and the remaining profits will be distributed to various local charitable causes.
Representatives from Ochsner Foundation were on hand to receive a check for their contributions. Grady Brame, Executive Vice President with Stirling Properties, presented a check to Louisa Post, Ochsner Foundation’s Director of Development for Baton Rouge, during an awards celebration and cocktail reception following the tournament. Rick Perry, President and CEO of Tiger Athletic Foundation, was also presented with a $1,000 check to TAF for the LSU Golf Team.
“A great time—for a great cause—was had by all. We are fortunate to be able to play such an outstanding course, and to have the opportunity to help raise funds for local nonprofit organizations that are doing critical work in our community,” said Brame. “We could not accomplish all of this without the generosity of our tournament sponsors. We want to thank all of our sponsors and everyone who came out to support our event.”
The Stirling Invitational Golf Tournament has contributed more than $239,000 to numerous organizations over the past 18 years.
Thank you to all of our friends and supporters who participated and contributed to the Stirling Invitational Golf Tournament. This event would not be possible without you.
#StirlingProud
Additional sponsors include Netchex, Newmark Knight Frank, Metairie Bank, Real Estate Tax Group, Big Easy Parking Lot Maintenance, Gulf South Electric, Dixie Office Products, Metro Mechanical Inc, Covington Electric Services Inc, Geiger Heating & Air, Jones Fussell LLP, PMAT Real Estate Investments LLC, Premium Parking, River Parish Disposal, Certified Air Conditioning, Roth Law Firm LLC, Ryan Gootee General Contractors, Larry Loyd Construction Co. Inc, ITS Fire Alarm Security, Southeastern Waterproofing, Trimark, Palmisano Group, Robert Levis Development LLC, Mullin Landscape Associates, Premier Service Team LLC, Codaray Construction LLC, Chrestia & Inc, B&G Lawn Maintenance LLC, Gene Nims Builders, NcNeer Electrical Contracting Inc, Dale’s Paving Inc, Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, CMC (Calcasieu Mechanical Contractors), Angelos Landscaping, Cook Moore & Associates (Cornerstone), Cost Segregation Services Inc. (CSSI), Huseman, Jeffrey Lipp Parking Lot Services, Precision Concrete Cutting of Louisiana, Professional Maintenance Services, , Unit Design Inc, Thermal Products Inc, Grass Unlimited, Crystal Clean Sweeping, Landry’s Lawn, T.L. Construction LLC, ACA Mechanical Industrial Inc, CertaPro Painters, CJ Ladner (State Farm), Sign Lite, Jimmy Maurin, James Hudson, and Roger Ogden.
A huge shout out to Fidelity Bank for sponsoring lunch.
Have no fear, for the death of retail is not near
Beware! Caution! Warning! These are just a few of the wicked things we have heard about brick-and-mortar retail over the last couple of years, but it’s just a bunch of hocus-pocus.
This month, it seems something else is brewing in the industry: optimism. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending is projected to hit $9 billion this year! That’s the second highest in the survey’s 14-year history, just missing last year’s record $9.1 billion in sales. More than 175 million Americans are planning to participate in Halloween festivities, each spending an average of $87, also up from last year.
Despite the myths that still haunt the retail industry, the truth is that overall retail is thriving. Thanks to a robust economy, retail sales have increased year over year since 2015—forecasters are expecting a 4.5% growth for 2018. Consumer sentiment is high, with the index topping 100 for only the third time since January 2004.
Fact-based analysis shows that consumers are still spending; they are merely spending differently. We’ve heard the horror story of the bloody battle between physical stores and e-commerce, but it’s not what it appears to be. In fact, e-commerce still only accounts for less than 10% of total retail sales. Furthermore, over half of those online sales are actually generated by brick-and-mortar retailers!
Many brick-and-mortar retailers are spending billions of dollars on their online platforms and supply chain networks. It’s the brick-and-mortar retailers driving the e-commerce.
Indeed, many once pure-play retailers are now opening brick-and-mortar stores—e-commerce retailers plan to open 800 physical stores in the next five years. Mattress startup Casper is rolling out a brick-and-mortar strategy, men’s retailer UNTUCKit is opening stores across the country, Blue Nile, Peloton, Birchbox, and the list goes on. Even online furniture giant Wayfair is dipping its toe in physical stores. As they say, “If the broom fits, fly it.”
It might sound batty, but research shows 78% of consumers prefer to shop in-store and spend significantly more in physical stores than online. On top of that, e-commerce is expensive. With the high cost of delivery and even higher cost of returns, it is virtually impossible to make a profit through pure online tactics. Successful retailers are maximizing sales by leveraging both brick-and-mortar and online strategies.
Looking a bit down the road, a new holiday forecast offers even more good news. Retailers are poised to rack up their best sales in years this season. Holiday sales between November and January are estimated to grow 5% to 5.6% from last year to more than $1.1 trillion, up from the $1.05 trillion last year, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail sales forecast.
So have no fear, the death of retail is NOT near. However, with all of the retail tales of terror, it can be confusing and overwhelming, especially for commercial real estate investors and property owners. Evolution in the commercial real estate industry is creating rapid change. This new landscape is impacting real estate values—presenting both problems and opportunities in the market—and increasing the need for professional real estate guidance for investors and property owners.
That is why Stirling Properties recently formed a new Investment Advisors division that specializes in acquisitions, dispositions, and investment sales of retail assets and other property types.
Stirling Properties’ Investment Advisors division has the depth and breadth of experience to help solve problems and maximize the potential of commercial investment assets. Our team can help to assess the risk and rewards of any asset or investment and guide clients through difficult decisions. Stirling Properties’ Investment Advisors represent a wide range of client types, including private owners, institutional investors, and private equity firms.
October is full of enough frightening experiences, your real estate portfolio doesn’t have to be one of them. If you are unsure how to navigate the complexities of the retail industry or other commercial sectors or are interested in exploring commercial asset opportunities, let our investment advisors help you sort through the cobwebs. Contact one of our experienced agents today.
On behalf of Stirling Properties, we witch you a Happy Halloween!
