Earth Fare Prepping to Reopen at Least 7 Stores by Summer
After filing for bankruptcy and closing all 50 stores in February, the health food store Earth Fare is planning a comeback.In early February, the specialty organic grocery store Earth Fare filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Within two months, the chain closed all 50 branches, laid off 3,000 staff members, sold 10 locations to larger supermarket chains, and negotiated lease agreements for nine more. The funds accumulated from the sales and closures were substantial enough that newly-appointed CEO Bethany Turon announced plans to reopen seven or eight of their most profitable stores by summertime. The company has already purchased leases and equipment in four states and is finalizing the details for stores in two others.
Earth Fare cited competition rather than over expansion as the sole cause of their financial troubles and subsequent closure. Founder Roger Derrough, who sold the chain back when the company was a 13-store operation, said he was shocked by the news and wondered if better decisions could've been made. He has teamed up with investor Dennis Hulsing and Green Sages cafe founder Randy Talley to restart the company. The group is fully committed to the company's mission to supply communities with organic food that meets high standards for how it is produced and what goes into it. "We don't want people drawn to this purely for the money,” Turon told Citizen-Times. “They also need to be philosophically aligned with the original intentions of Earth Fare."
While almost every other industry is suffering, groceries are big business right now. In March, grocery stores saw a 29.3 percent increase in sales in comparison to where they were the year prior. The largest increases in sales were in household goods, meats, and frozen food. Produce and seafood are also more profitable than normal, but not nearly on the same scale as the aforementioned categories. That said, it is expensive to operate under the current circumstances — personal protective equipment must be acquired for staff and employees are pushing against regular pay structures — and the long term impact of the crisis on grocery stores is unforeseeable.
Did you have an Earth Fare in your shopping center? Do you need help filling a large vacant space? Schedule a no-obligation demo today, and let Retailsphere show you how easy finding new tenants can be,
Top 5 Doggie Day Care concepts in the Mid-Atlantic
With Coronavirus, pet adoptions have increased dramatically. Even before this, younger generations were finding themselves adding pets to their families. Once travel begins to open back up after Covid-19, people will begin looking for their next destination to visit. This also means finding a place where these pets can stay and have fun while their owners go on vacation. Adding a Doggie Daycare to your shopping center can help take care of this growing demand, one that was estimated at an 8% increase year over year even pre-Coronavirus. Here is a look at the top 5 daycare services in the Mid-Atlantic.
Reserved Barking: With over 15,000 square feet of both indoor and outdoor areas to play, this doggie daycare has everything. Ranging from spa packages, nail trim, and even a dog training academy. It's no wonder they have an A+ rating on the BBB. With two convenient locations in Virginia, make sure to check them out.
Paradise4Pets: A dream come true for your pets is at Paradise4Pets. With 6 acres in a wooded area, 63 outdoor exercise areas, indoor runs, and more, this allows your dog to get the needed exercise to get all of their energy out. It's a perfect place for anyone in the Beltsville, MD area!
The Dog Stay: Whether you need doggie daycare or a place to board while you go on vacation, you have both options here. And while your pup is there, they can enjoy a spa day or an adventure in their outdoor arena. With their 5,200 square foot indoor space, the opportunities for adventure are endless.
Just Fur Pets: With 30 years of experience, this Springfield, VA doggie care has it all. From games, group activities, nap, and storytime, to even snack time, your dog will have endless entertainment. Plus, their breeders have 20 years of experience, so your doggie can always smell fresh after a long day of playing.
Les Pawtite: This cage and crate-free boarding facility provide the comfort that your small breed doggie needs to be able to call this place "home away from home". Just like at home, your dogs are given couches, beds, and even tv time, so it feels like the comfort of their own home. Whether you want indoor playtime, socialization, or even a relaxing environment for your pet, you can find this here.
What these five doggie daycare centers have in common is the love, dedication, and the desire to provide you and your dog with the best service out there. Whether going to work or out of town, pet owners need a place they can trust to take their animals. Adding more doggie daycares to shopping complexes, or even opening one yourself, can cater to a growing customer base.
Let Retailsphere help you research and reach out to concepts like the doggie daycare brands listed above. With Retailsphere, you can compare national, regional, and local brands to find the right fit for your space. Sign up today for a no-obligation demo, and see how easy it can be to find tenants for your vacant spaces.
Top 5 Fitness Studios in the Mid-Atlantic
Studio fitness centers, or "boutique" studios, are riding an up-cycle in the health-club business. With growth of more than 100 percent among fitness concepts in the past five years, the segment remains an out performer. Studio clubs have an intimate feel with personalized instruction and are quick to advance the latest fitness trends. They're increasingly wooed by developers of mixed-use centers to help draw traffic to adjacent shops and services, plus provide a much-appreciated built-in amenity for residents. Here are five of today's rising boutique fitness stars.
CorePower Yoga
CorePower Yoga is literally a hot concept: most classes are heated for ease of stretching and injury prevention. At any temperature, yoga promotes cardiovascular health, flexibility, mindfulness and stress-management, research shows. The industry leader with 200-plus national locations, CorePower offers modern spa-like surroundings and classes of varied skill levels. Heated Yoga Sculpt classes incorporate weights, while beginner-friendly classes have lighter offerings. The chain seeks studio sites throughout the U.S. and is space-flexible; locations stretch from 1,800 square feet to more than 5,000 square feet.
Orangetheory
Studio-fitness chain Orangetheory has grown at a heart-racing pace from one to more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states (and 23 countries) in just 10 years. It's done so by taking a HIIT - an acronym for high-intensity interval training - and tailoring workouts that are "science-backed and technology-tracked," ushered along by inspiring coaches. The Orangetheory theory: clients lose pesky belly fat faster this way than with low-intensity workouts, as they advance through five different colored heart-rate zones. Orangetheory seeks hundreds of new studio sites with an approximate 3,000-square-foot footprint, in upscale locations in both established and growing markets.
Pure Barre
Belly up to the Barre, developers. Pure Barre is a well-established chain of nearly 550 North American studios focused around the handrail - or barre - used in ballet. Its total-body workouts produce benefits similar to yoga and Pilates, including increased clarity and mind-body awareness. Barre strengthens and tones minus the bulk-building, and improves posture, balance and agility. Classes range from "low-impact" to "total-body." Studios tend to be 1,000 to 1,800 square feet with a sweet spot of around 1,500 square feet. Pure Barre is seeking hundreds of franchise opportunities around the country.
Solidcore
Targeting the human body's small-twitch muscle fibers for crucial stamina-building, Solidcore takes resistance training and full-body conditioning to new levels, while offering a souped-up twist on Pilates and boot-camp-style fitness disciplines.
Using exclusive patented machines, Solidcore offers intense 50-minute workouts to help clients build long, lean muscle. One of the fastest growing fitness firms in the U.S. with 70 studios and in excess of 100,000 clients (including former First Lady Michelle Obama), Solidcore is a fitting choice for modest-size spaces from 1,800-3,000 square feet.
SoulCycle
There's no spinning it, SoulCycle is among the top stationary-cycling studios in the U.S. (and Canada and England) with 100 high-intensity overall locales. The chain's cardio and muscle-toning classes, held in dark, candlelit studios, give patrons both a physical and mental boost; cyclists say they emerge from sessions feeling like their best selves. Patrons ride to the beat of one-of-a-kind music playlists led by "rock star" instructors as they experience out-of-saddle moments. An hour of high-intensity cycling can torch from 500 to 900 calories; bear weights and burn more. SoulCycle entered Michigan in 2020; its studios range from 2,000 to 5,500 square feet. Have a cardio party at your center.
Do you have 1,500 to 5,000 square feet available in your center? Luckily, all of the concepts listed above are expanding across the US. As people begin to look for activities post-coronavirus quarantine, they could be flocking to your center for a work out. Let Retailsphere help you identify and reach out to the right people to bring a new experience to your vacant space. Schedule a demo today.
Can luxury brands help save physical retail?
Luxury retail has been a haute ticket of late. In fact, strong growth in the high-margin luxury segment has been sustenance for the industry during the so-called "retail apocalypse." In 2019, luxury rose above other non-commodity, non-discount retail, growing 4% year-over-year to about $309 billion, according to a Bain & Co. Luxury Study.
Luxury customers aren't bargain hunters and they typically shop for experiences and premium "white glove" customer service, plus seek highly-regarded, dependable brand names that they associate with exclusivity.
The world's top luxury retailers remain in an elevated class. With a profit margin of about 30 percent, Louis Vuitton is the globe's highest valued luxury brand, sporting high-end leather goods, handbags, jewelry, shoes, trunks, watches and accessories, most emblazoned with the famed LV monogram. Louis Vuitton, which has 460 stores, tops Forbes' 2020 "most valuable brands index," with an estimated value of nearly $40 billion.
With the addition of celebrity designer Virgil Abloh as menswear artistic director, and collaborations with cult street-wear brand Supreme and Master & Dynamic for wireless earbuds, Louis Vuitton continues to reach out to Millennial luxury shoppers as well as new audiences. The retailer's parent company, LVMH, also owns Christian Dior.
With total annual global revenue in excess of $90 billion dollars and 550 stores, Gucci remains a luxury juggernaut hot on the tail of LVMH. Gucci has had an exceptional run, enjoying a 9.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past 10 years. The Italian brand, famous for fashion and leather goods, is ever on luxury consumers' minds: the brand is discussed, on average, more than 11 million times monthly on social media, according to online data.
Gucci and Louis Vuitton aren't the only 2 luxury retailers to rank among the world's most valued brands for the past 20 years, according to consulting/marketing firm Interbrand. Another revered luxury retailer, French fashion house Chanel, boosted its estimated value by $1 billion to $9 Billion in 2019, despite a minimal e-commerce presence, said Luxe Digital. (Current estimates put luxury e-commerce sales at only 4 percent of luxury goods revenue, according to PYMNTS.com.)
The privately held Chanel, known for celebrity and narrative-led ad campaigns, is famous for its Chanel No. 5 perfume and the iconic Little Black Dress. Besides apparel and fragrances, Chanel sells watches, handbags and accessories. In late March 2020, shoppers formed a long queue outside a Chanel boutique in Shanghai, just as retail was re-opening in China, the New York Times reported.
No luxury brand list can be complete without Swiss luxury watch manufacture Rolex, which is as much a phenomenon as it is a retailer. The firm is celebrated as the world's most renowned and reputable manufacturer and seller of timepieces. Vintage and rare Rolex issues continue to spur fascination with the brand, which enjoys strong aftermarket interest and robust pricing.
In late 2019, a Rolex Daytona that was owned by actor/racer Paul Newman became the most expensive watch ever sold at auction, netting $15.5 million at auction in New York. Top sports celebrities, including Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn, promote the brand, which is the official timekeeper for the four tennis Grand Slam events as well as for golf's PGA and European tours.
Christian Dior, more commonly known today as Dior, remains steadfast among the world's top luxury retailers. Dior designs and sells leather goods, fragrance, makeup, skin-care products, fashion accessories, footwear, jewelry and watches. Its Christian Dior Couture division, where art meets fashion, continues to elevate the brand. The Dior label remains largely for women, the retailer is pushing more menswear and accessories into its 220-store chain, and online. Both profit and revenue for Dior rose a stout 15% in 2019.
While the COVID-19 crisis may shake out the some of the weaker luxury retailers, don't look for the above stalwarts to disappear soon. Luxury consumers tend to compare their shopping experience to the difference between watching a top-flight Broadway show and stating home watching television.
Following re-opening of stores in Asia, luxury sales, at least anecdotally, are starting to bump up again, retailers say. Globally, Chinese customers account for a little over a third of total luxury purchases. After the 2008-2009 recession, these consumers still spent big even as Western demand softened. Given travel restrictions, any such assumptions remain difficult to make in the near term, however.
The fastest luxury growth categories in 2019 were jewelry and shoes (9%) and leather goods (7%). Looking forward, the Bain survey indicates that about 80% of luxury customers prefer socially responsible brands, particularly Millennials, another indication that authenticity and transparency will be critical to tomorrow's luxury retail consumers.
Is your shopping center or vacant retail space located in an area that could support a new luxury retail store? Will people be eager to line up outside of a new Chanel store, similar to those consumers in China? Let Retailsphere help you find the right luxury retailer for your space. Schedule a demo today and let our team show you how simple your retailer search can be.
Top 5 Growing Ramen Chains
Ramen, Japanese for "pulled noodles," is still called Chuka Soba in some dining spaces. But by any other name, those delicate wheat-flour noodles served in long-simmering broth, are still...delicious. Japanese ramen restaurants began taking North America by storm in the past half decade, opening on the coasts and now working their way inland. But the category is barely out of its infancy so big opportunities remain for developers to sign one of the many slurp-worthy Japanese soup concepts before a competing center does. Your customers will certainly be saying "Arigato" (gratitude). Here are five on-the-grow ramen concepts to take into consideration.
Ippudo is known worldwide for its authentic pork-based Tonkotsu ramen, which utilizes a thin noodle with low water content to complement a creamy pork broth that's brewed to perfection for 18 hours. Born in Tokyo and expanding rapidly with the backing of partner Panda Restaurant Group, Ippudo also offers gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. The chain plans up to 300 new restaurants internationally by 2025, many in the U.S. The average check at Ippudo, which attracts a relatively young customer base, averages $20 per person. Space needs range from a modest 2,200 square feet to a capacious 4,700 square feet, such as Ippudo's San Francisco outpost.
Ramen is really about the broth (okay, the noodles too) at Jinya Ramen Bar. Jinya combines chicken, pork bones or veggies with a deft balance of bonito, dashi and other authentic ingredients for rich, full-flavored and healthy broths. Noodles thick and thin are made fresh daily then aged three days to maximize flavor. The Japanese practice of "kaizen," or continuous improvement, has Jinya constantly honing its craft and creating new flavor combos for its signature build-your-own bowls. The chain has 35-plus U.S and Canadian locales, both dine-in and takeout, with dozens more planned. Full restaurants run 2,800-3,400 square feet.
Born in Japan, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka opened its first U.S. eatery in Bellevue, Washington, in 2014, and has expanded to 17 U.S. spots with multiple restaurants in California and locations in New Jersey, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and Honolulu, plus five in Canada. Hokkaido serves varied ramen broth flavors including shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) and miso. Bowls of wavy noodles are topped with dried fish, kelp, pickled red plums and kelp. Its signature dish is the rich Toroniku bowl with savory broth and noodles served with melt-in-your-mouth sides of roasted pork. Hokkaido seeks spaces of about 2,000 square feet and smaller food-court sites.
Notable noodles: Ivan Orkin has won diners' and critics' hearts with his two New York City shops bearing his distinctive brand, Ivan Ramen, which is partnering with Corlex Capital to roll out a ramen empire of up to 100 worldwide locations in the next five years. Orkin, as seen on Netflix's Chef’s Table show, offers such signature dishes as his triple-pork/triple-garlic mazemen, comprised of crispy garlic, pork chashu in a deeply flavored pork sauce with thick rye noodles. Restaurant formats and sizes are to be determined though Orkin's two NYC outposts include one sit-down and one take-out format.
At this point, we imagine you're as hungry for a bowl of ramen as we are. That's just one more reason to use Retailsphere to find local ramen concepts to bring to your vacant retail space. It may be one of our "top 5" above, or could be something unique to your region. Either way, schedule your Retailsphere demo and see how easy it is to find ramen brands like the ones above.
Tips for taking your CRE canvassing online
While canvassing has always been an integral part of the commercial real estate prospecting process, COVID really has changed everything, including how many people start their research. With various shutdowns as a result of the pandemic, your days in the office limited and in-person canvassing has become more difficult. If this sounds like you, it may be time to introduce digital canvassing if you haven't already.
While you may think there's nothing that can beat good old fashioned in-person canvassing, you can and should start moving your efforts online (if you haven't already). Not only can you cover more “ground”quickly, but contacts and retailer information are just a few clicks away - giving you the data needed for personal outreach.
To make the most of your online canvassing efforts, there are a few things you can do that will decrease frustrations and increase success.
Tip 1 - Target specific retailer types (or even specific retailers) to maximize your digital canvassing efforts. It helps you get to the retailers who could be potential tenants. Identify what uses the center needs, check non-exclusives of tenants to see what is and isn’t allowed based on who currently occupies space, and do void analysis - what’s missing from the area.
Tip 2 - Be armed with the right toolkit . New tools launch daily claiming to solve all of your problems. But too many tools can lead to an overwhelming feeling. This usually results in scrapping everything and going back to what you were doing before. While we believe Retailsphere should be your first option for digital canvassing, there are others you can use to get you started in the right direction.
Yelp can be a great place to start identifying retailers who are well loved by learning the number of five star reviews they have from customers. Beyone reviews, their mapping feature lets you navigate a particular area with simplicity.
Blogs can be another beneficial resource to your canvassing. Try searching local blogs where authors focus on finding the coolest new restaurants or shop at unique boutiques or perhaps partner with retailers. Many bloggers create lists of trending brands as well.
Once you’ve done some prospecting and outreach, you’ll need to keep track of your efforts. The Retailsphere all-in-one CRM allows you to prospect and lead nurture in the system. Yes, it’s time to kick those excel or Google Sheets to the curb. This is an outdated way to keep track of progress. Other helpful systems include Airtable or Monday.
Tip 3 - Conduct Void Analysis. While retailers in nearby shopping centers may be a good fit for your vacancy, they are also clearly your competition. Looking at these centers can give you an idea of what types of retailers you may want to avoid.Or look at it from a void analysis angle - what is the area lacking? This can be done simply by using Google maps. Plot your shopping center and search around that retail corridor.
You can also leverage a tool like Retailsphere to speed up the process. Simply navigate to the "Shopping Locations" section and search by distance from your location, type of center, or number of units.
Here, you will find an extensive list of shopping centers, each with a profile that includes: general center information, ownership information, contacts, key demand drivers, and most importantly, tenant information. Simply select the shopping center you would like to canvas to open up that profile.
Once you select a location, select “tenants” from the navigation and go “door-to-door” virtually, reviewing the retailers in that center.
Tip 4 - Utilize Social Media Social profiles can often give you an idea of the size of a brand and if they are poised for expansion. For retailers where it’s not as obvious, you can send a note on Facebook Messenger or try sending a DM (direct message) on Instagram to begin a conversation.
Tip 5 - Lead Nurture . The most important part of prospecting is your follow-up. Rarely do you get exactly what you’re looking for with the first message. You must keep track of your prospecting data and create a follow-up system for yourself to build on the relationship with your prospective tenant. If you use a tool like Retailsphere, you can log all of the businesses you’ve reached out to. Since the system was specifically created for commercial real estate professionals, it includes natural next steps in the CRM like Prospecting, Flyer Sent, Booked a Site Tour, or Lease Negotiation.
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There are plenty of ways to canvas for opportunities in the digital world. Tools that can help you digitally canvas in commercial real estate include: Yelp, Google Maps, blogs and social media - all great ways to get started. Ultimately, you need a way to tie everything together and ensure you’re converting prospects into closed deals aka tenants. That’s where Retailsphere lends a hand.
Retailsphere is THE commercial real estate tech tool that gives you the data you need to target the right retailers - those that are expanding, prospect to the right people - inclusive of contact information, and track all of your progress and conduct lead nurturing all in one place - in its custom designed CRE CRM system.
This is an updated version of an article posted August 2020.
Top 5 Experiential Businesses in Utah
As we look to the future of retail commerce, shoppers are moving more to an online experience, yet a hybrid pivot of commerce is coming. That hybrid is bringing them back offline and into in-person experiences. That hybrid is emerging now, and it is the power of experiential businesses. Experiential business merges entertainment and technology with traditional shopping.
Experiential businesses give consumers hands-on experiences that weren’t previously offered in retail atmospheres and are not offered online. There’s a formula to make experiential businesses a hit: Interactiveness, originality, connectedness, unexpectedness, and reliability.
This hybrid is encouraging shoppers to move seamlessly between physical and digital retail, prioritizing engagement. Leading the pack in experiential retail convergence is Utah, and if you‚'e looking for some of the most abstract, new, and Instagram-worthy experiences, we've got you covered.
Utah is home to more than 75 golf courses around the state, but recently virtual golf has also taken a foothold. Just look at Anytime Golf in downtown Salt Lake City. Located to cater to the lunch time warrior who wants to hit a quick bucket of balls, their yearly membership is just $125. For that low price, you can use the space for up to 2 hours each day. Plus, the cold and snowy winters of Salt Lake City make it tough to hit the links. When you play at Golf Anytime, you never have to worry about being snowed out. They also host 18 hole tournaments, and other types of events to bring people into their space year-round.
Established in 2017 after browsing an estate sale in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah Vintage Rentals was born by falling in love with an 1800's Victorian rosewood settee. Inspired by her own elopement and missing out on the intricate details of wedding planning, including centerpiece decor, floral installations, and fancy decor; the couple began collecting charming vintage and specialty items to share with the world. Utah Vintage Rentals fills the gap by providing rental service to brides, and clients who want beautiful decor for their events. Based in American Fork, Utah Vintage Rentals includes modern styled rentals, bohemian rentals, rustic decor, Hollywood glam, and vintage decor rentals to style whatever your upcoming event may be. They provide an exquisite rental decor selection including hundreds of props, signs, and frames, seating, tables, pillows, and much more to choose from, as well as style and delivery services focused on enjoying your event. With an online showroom, they make it convenient to select the items you are interested in renting for your event, receive an online quote and have a seamless online to in-person retail experience.
Offering Mormon books, antique bibles from 1492-1899 AD, literary classics, historical artifacts, and fine art, Reid Moon is indeed offering a rare curated experience. Specializing in early Mormon books and documents that have contributed to Mormon and Utah history, Moon's Rare Books provide customers the opportunity to attend free monthly hosted lectures on the rare items as well as have personalized smaller groups seeing rare curated items of their choosing. Located in The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo, Utah, Moon's Rare Books is said to be a museum disguised as a bookshop. Surrounded by outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment with a mountain backdrop, this location is premier for the book lover looking for an out-of-the-box retail experience. Half of the items on display at Moon's bookstore are for sale while the rest are part of a permanent museum collection. The store specializes in four main categories: Bibles, classics, high points in literature, early Mormon books and documents, and early American and European history.
Specializing in providing a niche photography experience, Kaci Lou Photography was established in 2017. Providing wedding, elopement, and underwater photography Kaci Lou gives photography experiences in small, outdoor destination weddings, adventure elopements, and underwater photography environments. The Utah based, traveling photographer presents a unique experience for all her clients from all over the southwest and beyond. She has photographed over 100 couples in 20 national parks with over 256k images delivered since starting her business. Not restricting her business to client-based photography business only, she also provides tools and resources for photographers that include workshops, portfolio reviews, mentoring as well as a quarterly Facebook Ad course.
Voted best weight loss resort in Utah in 2019, the 55,000 square foot sprawling space is the perfect setting for clients to get into shape. Unite Fitness Retreat, home-based at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah is a boutique weight loss camp experience aimed at providing a total life reset. The retreat is located at the base of Wasatch Mountain Range, where at the Marriott, clients have access to private guest rooms, eat chef-prepared meals together in a private dining area with mountain views, work out with the best training equipment to date, with high-end amenities and private fitness rooms that promote lifestyle changing habits. The experience provides private meeting space, life coaching, yoga classes, a spa, and unlimited recreational activities. With the perfect urban and nature mix, Unite Fitness Retreat promises the most effective live-in weight loss camp experience for adults.
People are always eager for new types of experiences, and are willing to go out of their way to find them. Are you looking to fill vacant space with a tenant who caters to these unique experiences? Retailsphere can help you identify and reach out to these new internet-proof types of retailers. Schedule a demo today to see how we make your retailer search simpler than ever.
Top 5 Expanding Fried Chicken Brands
Fried chicken has been having a moment. A big moment. Find someone who doesn't like fried chicken and we'd say you found someone who is lying. Adding a fried chicken restaurant to your shopping center is a great way to bring a timeless classic to your customers.
Delicious homemade crispy fried chicken with taters and coleslaw.
Here are some of our favorite players in the space to keep an eye on and consider reaching out to these businesses if you're looking for a hot new food option to add to your vacant spaces.
Korean fried chicken is taking the food world by storm and Bonchon is leading the charge. A twist on traditional fried chicken, Korean fried chicken features ultra-crispy crust and a delicious, sweet and spicy sauce. A breakout hit in New York City, Bonchon is looking to grow at a steady pace of 20 percent over the next couple of years. Requiring a relatively small footprint of 1500-3000 square feet, Bonchon is a great option for landlords with locations in areas with large amounts of Millenials and young Asian Americans.
A southern brand, Yardbird specialized in offering the down-home comfort of Southern fried chicken. Yardbird focuses on current food trends of farm-to-table cooking and sustainable sourcing of ingredients. Typically, Yardbird is looking for mid-sized locations of 3,500-5,000 square feet. A growing upstart in the fried chicken space, Yardbird is quickly becoming a major player.
An expert in all things chicken wings, Wingstop is a great addition to any shopping center looking for a popular fast-casual restaurant. Wingstop deals well with both dine-in and take-out customers. Offering a wide variety of different chicken sauces, Wingstop has recently seen a major surge in expansion after going public in 2015. A great addition to a shopping center interested in filling a smaller retail space that draws big crowds.
With over 900 units, Zaxbys is an incredibly popular Southern fast-casual restaurant that specializes in all things chicken. Headquartered in Athens, Georgia, Zaxbys is working to add over 100 new units over the next three years. Less expensive than some of the other options on this list, Zaxbys caters towards customers who are looking to maximize the value of their meal. If your customers are typically in a lower income bracket, this could be a great option for your space.
A long-time staple of Memphis, Tennessee, Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken has recently moved towards expanding outside of the city that helped make its name. With almost thirty locations, Gus's is looking to the future and looking to expand. Focusing on a Tennessee-style fried chicken, Gus's is a great option for shopping centers with medium-sized vacancies looking to bring some Southern flavor to their customers.
Now we're hungry for some fried chicken! And we know your customers probably are too. Are you looking to bring a fried chicken restaurant to your shopping center or vacant space? Retailsphere can help you find the right fit. We have information on national brands, franchisees, and local concepts, so you can feel confident you're finding in the right tenant for you. Schedule your no-obligation demo today and see how Retailsphere can help.
Top 5 Escape Rooms in the Mid-Atlantic Region
As we continue to pivot in the retail economy and see an influx in experiences. Consumers continue to become accustomed to pop up retail shops and are craving new experiences. One type of experience that is growing across the US and specifically in the Mid-Atlantic region is Escape Rooms.
Perfect for social gatherings, corporate team building activities, out of the box bonding for families, and birthday parties, Escape rooms are becoming the new go-to entertainment experience. As they experience an increase in popularity, here are the top 5 in the mid-Atlantic region you can visit to amplify your social gatherings.
Based in Frederick, Maryland, Clue IQ is all about IMMERSION. Frederick, Maryland is a place known mostly for its Civil War-era buildings that stand alongside specialty shops, museums, galleries, and theatres. Diversifying part of downtown Frederick with innovative entertainment, Clue IQ is situated in a fully renovated, old dry good grocer warehouse from the late 1870s. Standing out from your classic escape room experience, and ranked #1 in Fun & Games on Trip Advisor, Clue IQ teleports you into your themed room and that’s what makes the experience different. Each room provides you with a specific objective that goes along with the story, with unique high-tech gaming and set design the game timers, hints and game master interactions are created with the highest immersive experience in mind. With three curated room themes of Blitzkrieg, Conspiracy, and Excalibur, this immersive experience is a guaranteed hit amongst all. A mobile experience built to be brought to your office or event, Ruloco Island, is curated as a perfect team-building and bonding experience to highlight communication, camaraderie and problem-solving.
Located in Garwood, New Jersey this premium real-life escape game experience challenges up to 8 players by working together to find clues, solve puzzles, and pick locks that will free them from the game room. The 400+ acre borough of Garwood had a little over 4,000 residents in the population in the last 2010 Census count, touting attractions in town like recreational parks, arboretums, and an observatory. Providing the perfect new entertainment to a smaller town, Escapology offers more than 4 different rooms ranging in difficulties, it is the perfect team-building exercise for families, friends, and co-workers, and social activity for those looking for something different than what the town has to offer.
Hyper focused on personalization and attention, Escape Room Level 6, gives you personal attention from the moment you enter into the facility. Designed and built to focus on more than fun and games, there’s an interactive storyline for each room. Situated in Annville, Pennsylvania with a population of just under 5,000 this interactive but thought-provoking puzzle pieced experience is sure to get you thinking outside the box and inside the rooms. Part riddle, part scavenger hunt, part mystery, Escape Room Level 6 provides entertainment for residents looking to travel off the beaten path of parks and museums that the Annville community is touted to offer.
Rated the #1 escape room in New York City by Thrillist, groups of 2 to 10 can journey through history and sift through clues and puzzles as the clock ticks to defeat a Jailhouse Breakout or Haunted Hotel experience. Planted on the 3rd floor of 160 Broadway in New York City in the Financial District just blocks from Wall Street, the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the escape room environment is created by innovative set designers who worked for haunted houses around NYC and famous Broadway shows. This escape room is sure to bring the thrill for first-timers and repeat escape room visitors alike. With three room experiences: Rikers 1932, Haunted Hotel and, Game of Gold - BrainXcape provides an immersive experience that utilizes your senses without jump scares but still terrifies you.
The first, and largest escape room experience in Delaware brings the best fun in town with each room enriched with treasure, mystery, and tradition. Located in the Shops of Graylyn center plaza, it provides ample free parking and space for parties and social gatherings. With neighboring businesses like restaurants and banking, Axxiom Escape room provides entertainment in the perfect location for those seeking to break up their day of errand running, to stop in for an impromptu mind-bender. Axxiom Escape rooms have specific escape plans featuring rooms like Criminal Capture - The Zodiac Killer, Pharaoh’s Tomb, Sorcerer’s Quest and more. You must use your grandiose imagination, clue finding skills, problem-solving and most important - teamwork in order to crack the codes to escape the rooms provided in these dynamic historical experiences.
Clearly, the Mid-Atlantic region has a growing number of escape rooms. Think an escape room would be a good fit for your shopping center or empty retail space? Find brands like the ones above using Retailsphere. Sign up for a no-obligation demo today to get started.
Can small plate restaurants survive Covid-19?
Small plates focus on the community aspect of dining. What was once reserved for the appetizer course, small plate restaurants offer diners to share an experience with one another. Can this type of dining survive through Covid-19? Will people want to share food once restaurants reopen?
Before the current pandemic, you may have already noticed subtle changes: servers encouraging you to order for the table, smaller portions, and a greater variety of items. You're not the only one. Following on the heels of the communal table trend in the early 2000's, at which people from different parties share one large table (like Momofuku in New York), the small plate is the natural extension of this trend.
This trend in dining seems to follow the greater weight that millennials and young people have put on the shared experience. Young people have traditionally wanted to go out to eat with their friends in a way that they can all share. They want a dining experience where they can all sit down, choose a few different items and everyone can try a little bit of everything.
Even during the pandemic, places have gotten creative on creating small plates to go. Take Local and Vine in NYC as an example. They have a simplified menu available through Seamless so you can continue to enjoy your favorite shared dishes within your own home.
So will people flock back to this shared dining after Coronavirus? We believe that people will be more eager than ever for more communal experiences after having been cooped up for many months. And what better way to reconnect than over food?
Plus, small plate restaurants are a great option for consumers of all price-points. Since small plates restaurants tend to serve smaller portions at lower costs, as they allow a greater amount of control when it comes to the quantity and pricing of food. This is a great way to ensure that there is always some level of foot traffic coming in and out of the shop once doors begin to reopen.
For owners of shopping centers, small plate concepts are a great type of business to consider if you're trying to attract a younger crowd. Even with the Covid-19 slow down, we believe small plate restaurants will continue to grow in popularity. Plus, now is a great time to use a slower period to renovate an old space into an amazing restaurant ready shell that could cater to a small plate sharing.
