PropTech Newsletter: The Week In News, But Shorter

The Week In News, But Shorter
August 5 – 11, 2024

As electric vehicles (EVs) gain popularity, the demand for supportive infrastructure is surging. In response, New York City is considering a mandate for parking lot and garage owners to install EV charging stations, a clear sign of the shift towards a more sustainable future. This transformation isn’t just about convenience for EV drivers—it’s about leading the charge in the broader adoption of clean energy solutions. For businesses, this presents a unique opportunity to not only comply with emerging regulations but also to attract eco-conscious customers by investing in EV charging stations. We’ve long seen parking garages as a canvas for innovation and differentiation, and believe there’s no need to wait for regulations to start making these beneficial changes. We’d love to hear your thoughts—join the conversation on our LinkedIn post on this topic.

This week, we observed the continued strength of the retail and shopping center industry on a global scale, with notable developments in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. We also saw how a mall is exploring “alternative GLA” by transforming space into an NHL teams’ training center, and another example of a traditional online brand turning to brick-and-mortar.

Digital Meets Physical

Walmart creates metaverse shop for college students, influencers [Chain Store Age] Walmart is expanding its “Walmart Realm” immersive shopping environment for back-to-college season. The discount giant, which launched Walmart Realm, a 3-D virtual shopping environment curated by digital influencers, is introducing “Your Dorm Your Way,” the second phase of the initiative.

Why ‘wardrobing’ retail fraud soars in the summer [CNBC] “Wardrobing” is a type of abuse where shoppers buy, wear and return expensive items. This behavior spikes during the summer, and some retailers are combating the practice by using AI to manage and restock items quickly to minimize losses and maintain customer loyalty.

Mercari opens first physical store in Los Angeles [RetailDive] Bringing its e-commerce business offline, resale marketplace Mercari is opening its first brick-and-mortar store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California, the company said Thursday. Mercari on Melrose features a space for resellers to list their items, a space for DIY classes and events, and an area for pop-up shop partners.

Why Revolve Is Embracing Brick-and-Mortar [Business of Fashion] Facing declining sales and tumbling shares, Revolve Group Inc. is opening its first permanent store in Aspen after a successful pop-up, signaling a shift from its influencer-driven online model to meet growing consumer demand for in-person shopping.

Macy’s Expands Media Network with Post-Purchase Offers [Retail TouchPoints] Macy’s has partnered with Rokt to provide shoppers with post-purchase offers via non-endemic ads delivered during the checkout and transaction experience. The partnership,uses the Rokt ecommerce network’s AI and machine learning capabilities to leverage intelligence informed by more than 5 billion transactions across hundreds of businesses.

PropTalk

NYC Poised To Be First City to Mandate EV Chargers in Parking Garages [Propmodo] New York City has been quietly gearing up to be the first city to require parking lot and garage owners to install charging stations for EVs. This milestone will have a lot of implications for real estate owners

Plan For Reviving Shopping Mall Is A Winner For Relocating NHL Team [Forbes] Ryan and Ashley Smith had to move quickly to buy the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, relocate the team to Salt Lake City and then find a location for a practice training facility. Smith Entertainment Group quickly found the location to build a new practice and training location at a 37-year-old shopping mall developer and owner Los Angeles-based Pacific Retail Capital Partners bought a decade ago and spent millions repositioning.

Riyadh leads Saudi retail space growth with 90% occupancy [GulfBusiness] Riyadh’s retail market occupancy rates have climbed to 90 per cent, up by 5 percentage points, while average rental rates have increased by 3 per cent to SAR2,725 per square metre (psm) for regional and super regional malls over the past year.

Retail space availability has reached its lowest point in decades [ModernRetail] As retailers push into new cities and brands lean hard into brick-and-mortar as a strategy, it has become incredibly difficult to find space for a new storefront. Financing constraints due to elevated interest rates as well as zoning and infrastructure restrictions in some jurisdictions have limited construction of retail developments, limiting the amount of space on the market.

Left Behind in the Retail Real-Estate Comeback: Department Stores [The Wall Street Journal] The owners of the shopping center at Legacy West considered adding a department store to attract visitors and luxury retailers to their mixed-use project in Plano, Texas. Instead, Prism Places and its partners opted for a lavish food hall.

Malaysia’s Sunway to build the largest mall in Perak [InsideRetail] Malaysian mall operator Sunway has launched Ipoh Mall, set to be the largest in Perak when it opens by 2027. The mall’s total development cost is more than $US222.3 million (RM1 billion), with more than 1 million square feet of net lettable area (NLA) across four retail floors. It will also be designed to blend in with Tambun’s natural landscape.