Retail Retold

What does an AI-powered retail organization actually look like? Retail real estate has spent decades trying to optimize speed, scale, and execution. Now AI is forcing the industry to rethink all three. Surfaice Pro is taking this to a different level using mission-critical systems engineering to solve for issues along the store lifecycle, from leasing, through construction, and real estate. Joe Va...

As ICSC Las Vegas approaches, one theme is expected to rise above the rest: dealmaking. On the surface, the story looks simple. Retail fundamentals remain strong. Vacancy is near historic lows. Construction costs continue to limit new supply. Capital is returning to the sector. But beneath that headline, the real conversation begins. Demand is building from every direction. Buyers have capital to...

Insights into evolving market conditions Retail real estate isn’t defined by one trend right now. It’s being shaped by a mix of forces all hitting at once. Two of CBRE’s top retail leaders, Laura Barr and Scott Schnuckel , join Chris Ressa to dive into what’s actually happening across the industry, from leasing and retailer behavior to talent, data, and the broader market environment. These are th...

A disciplined pipeline and strategic site selection approach are enabling growth despite limited supply Retail real estate didn’t change as much as people thought. The fundamentals never left. What changed is how precisely you have to execute them. Jim Lampassi , Senior Vice President of Real Estate & Construction at Academy Sports + Outdoors, has spent 45 years in site selection and developme...

A disciplined approach to product, experience, and real estate is fueling a fast-growing food and beverage concept Palmetto Superfoods didn’t grow by chasing trends. It grew by challenging them. Hessam Shirmohammadi , co-founder and COO, built the brand around a simple idea: if the product is real and the experience is intentional, customers don’t just visit, they come back daily. What started in...

A different background, and a different lens on retail real estate Careers aren’t linear. And the best ones usually evolve. Anya Wolf didn’t start in retail real estate. Her background was in art, including studio work, art history, and hands-on experience in galleries and education. She was fully immersed in a creative path and exploring what that future could look like. But over time, she gained...

What if the biggest World Cup winners aren’t the teams? The next major tailwind for retail real estate isn’t coming from policy, rates, or supply it’s coming from global demand. The World Cup is set to drive one of the largest concentrated waves of consumer activity the U.S. has seen in years. But this isn’t just about packed stadiums. It’s about what happens around them and long after. We’re look...

Are you solving the problem, or just applying? How people get hired and what companies actually value is shifting fast. Cary Beale , one of the most active recruiters in retail real estate at Poline Search Partners , sees the disconnect every day. Companies want people in the office. Candidates want flexibility. Everyone says they want the “best talent,” but the definition of that talent isn’t ali...

Can a niche hobby become a viable retail concept? The golf industry quietly experienced one of the biggest participation surges in decades during the pandemic. Millions of people picked up clubs for the first time, and the ripple effects are still reshaping the business of golf, from course operations to the rise of indoor golf concepts. This Retail Retold Replay revisits Chris Ressa’s conversatio...

What did Adam and Chris get right about retail in 2024? Back in 2024, Chris Ressa sat down with DLC CEO Adam Ifshin in Las Vegas ahead of ICSC to talk about a retail market that was already showing unusual strength. Looking back from 2026, that conversation reads less like commentary and more like an early signal of where open-air retail was headed. At the time, Adam laid out a clear case: open-ai...

Is 2026 about to be the biggest year for retail real estate in decades? Retail real estate doesn’t move in a vacuum. It moves when consumers have a reason to act. 2026 is shaping up to be one of the strongest demand environments in decades because three massive global catalysts are converging at the same time: the World Cup, the Winter Olympics tailwind, and America’s 250th anniversary. Major live...

Why is grocery-anchored retail still the most resilient asset class in 2026? Grocery-anchored retail continues to prove why it remains one of the most durable and coveted asset classes in commercial real estate. Despite persistent narratives around online grocery, delivery economics, and shifting consumer behavior, grocery real estate entered 2026 from a position of strength, not disruption. Sales...

What does it take to win a competitive retail LOI today? Retail leases are moving fast again, and in East Tennessee, they are moving faster than most people think is possible. Chris Ressa talks with Lindsey Barden , founder of Dark Horse CRE, a tenant-rep-only broker covering Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities. Her view from the ground is simple: vacancy is extremely low, the best spaces t...

What do long-term franchise operators know that others miss? Longevity in retail is earned, not engineered. Chris Ressa and David Habas , Managing Partner at HK Enterprises , unpack what it actually takes to build and operate a service retail business over decades, cycles, and constant change. Habas brings nearly 30 years of franchising experience and a rare dual lens as both an operator and someo...

What Does It Mean to Think Like an Owner in Property Management? Retail real estate is not won in boardrooms. It is won in the field. Chris Ressa sits down with Tine Helton, Regional Property Manager at DLC, to talk about the work that actually keeps open-air retail centers running across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. From tenant relationships to infrastructure issues, Tine walks through what it me...

What Signals Say 2026 Could Outperform a Strong 2025 for Retail Real Estate? 2026 might be the year retail real estate finally turns momentum into pricing power. Chris Ressa and Karly Iacono open with a confident call: next year will outperform an already-strong 2025, and the data is starting to line up behind it. Holiday sales climbed roughly 4 percent year-over-year, outpacing inflation and rein...

What Does It Take to Go the Distance in Retail Real Estate Today? Retail real estate in early 2026 is defined by imbalance. In many suburban, open-air markets, demand is overwhelming supply. Five tenants are chasing one quality space. Vacancy is razor-thin. New construction still does not pencil. The result is leverage—and it is shifting. Chris Ressa and Andrew Mahr of Bialow Real Estate dig into...

What Happens When Strong Consumers, Limited Supply, and Leasing Demand Collide? Retail real estate is not just stable — it is entering a meaningfully better phase of the cycle. Drawing on recent conversations with owners, brokers, tenants, architects, engineers, and contractors, Chris Ressa challenges the prevailing narrative that 2026 will simply mirror a solid 2025. Instead, he outlines why the...

Is Retail Entering 2026 with More Certainty Than Ever? Fresh off the energy of ICSC New York, Chris Ressa and Carly Iacono unpack what really matters in retail real estate right now and where the market is headed into 2026. In this episode of What’s in Store , they move past surface-level headlines and dig into the conversations happening behind closed doors with investors, landlords, and retailer...

Are you managing risk in your leases, or just hoping for the best? Flashing back to December 2023, this Retail Retold replay proves just how relevant the details still are. In this episode, host Chris Ressa breaks down one of the most underestimated risks in retail real estate leasing: possession contingencies. A lease can be fully executed, a delivery date locked in, and everyone feeling good, un...

How is Spatial.ai mapping real retail demand? In this episode of Retail Retold , host Chris Ressa gets inside the mind of Lÿden Foust , the CEO and founder of Spatial.ai —the company turning real human behavior into a map retailers can actually use . If you think location strategy is still built on income bands and census data, this conversation flips that idea on its head. Foust explains how Pers...

Can entertainment concepts win in a tight real estate market? The kids’ entertainment world is exploding, and in this episode of Retail Retold, host Chris Ressa dives straight into the center of that momentum with Melissa Tinsley , Director of Real Estate at Unleashed Brands . Melissa pulls back the curtain on the powerhouse portfolio behind Urban Air, Sylvan Learning, The Little Gym, and Water Wi...

Which of these trends will reshape brands the most? This week on What’s in Store , Karly Iacono and Chris Ressa break down the power moves happening across luxury retail—and why the category is rewriting the rules of real estate. They open with a jolt: luxury brands are no longer just leasing the world’s most iconic corners… they’re buying them outright. Prada dropping $835 million on Fifth Avenue...

Could a pandemic business-plan lesson for a bored kid spark the next breakout fast-casual brand? This episode moves fast — because Rob Gresham’s career has never slowed down. Chris Ressa sits with the restaurant veteran who went from washing dishes at 15 to helping architect the early operational engine behind CAVA’s meteoric growth from zero to 80 stores. Rob shares the wild ride: running a steak...

What Does It Take to Scale from Two Gyms to 100+ Stores Across America? n this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa welcomes franchise powerhouse Kal Gullipali — the man who turned two Orange Theory studios into a 100-unit empire spanning Marco’s Pizza, Dave’s Hot Chicken, European Wax Center, and more. From Wall Street to wellness centers to hot chicken, Kal’s story is a masterclass in bold mov...