Retail Retold

Is Foot Traffic the New Gold Standard of Retail Success? What happens when two of retail’s sharpest minds go head-to-head on the data behind the industry’s biggest shifts? You get this week’s episode of Retail Retold , where Chris Ressa sits down (again!) with Ethan Chernofsky , Chief Marketing Officer at Placer.ai . Ethan brings the receipts—billions of data points from Placer.ai’s location analy...

Are we witnessing a reset in what “proven,” “scalable,” and “investable” mean in franchising? This is not the sugar-coated version of franchising. Patrick Buckley sits down with Chris Ressa to unpack what is actually happening behind the curtain of franchise growth, exits and unit-level profitability. He breaks down the split between legacy giants and scrappy emerging brands fighting for first-tim...

How Are Retailers Redefining Success Beyond Sales Per Square Foot? The metrics that define retail success are changing — fast. In this episode of What’s in Store , hosts Karly Iacono and Chris Ressa dive into the evolving ways retailers, investors, and developers are measuring performance in an era defined by data, analytics, and AI. From psychodemographics that reveal why consumers buy to macroec...

How did a former baseball player find his swing in commercial real estate? This week on Retail Retold , Chris Ressa welcomes Tyler Bindi , an investment sales broker with Marcus & Millichap, who has quickly risen through the ranks of the net-lease sector after entering commercial real estate in the middle of COVID-19. From his college baseball career at St. Mary's College of California, to sel...

How Did Foresight — and a Lot of Grit — Turn One Client into a Thriving Business? Can tenacity turn setbacks like the 2008 GFC into career breakthroughs? This week on Retail Retold , Chris Ressa sits down with Bethany Babcock , founder of Foresite Commercial Real Estate — and a mom of three who has built a thriving firm through sheer tenacity. Bethany’s journey is anything but conventional. Born i...

What Can 25 Years in Retail Real Estate Teach Us About Resilience and Growth? On this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa welcomes longtime friend and industry leader Hue Chen , President of Saglo Companies, for a conversation packed with stories and lessons from 25 years in retail real estate. Hue reflects on starting his career in the trenches of the Great Recession, when lead-sharing boards...

Why are institutions pouring billions into an asset class others are doubting? In this episode of What’s In Store , Chris Ressa and Karly Iacono break down one of the most resilient yet often misunderstood corners of commercial real estate: net lease. While headlines focus on retail closures or shifting tenant dynamics, the reality is that net lease portfolios are performing at an extraordinary le...

Bryan Furze is buzzing with insights. In this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa and Bryan, Senior Vice President at Charter Realty, talk about his bold move from landlord to broker after 25 years in retail real estate. Brian shares how his career has taken him from leading portfolios at major landlords to now building Charter’s Northern New England business, giving him a unique perspective on...

What Do Cold Plunges, K-Pop, and Loyalty Clubs Tell Us About Consumer Behavior? Shifting the focus from real estate to consumer behavior, Chris Ressa and Natalie Chambers, Executive Creative Director at the Dealey Group, dive into the shifting landscape of what makes the consumer tick. Natalie shares three standout trends that you might not expect — ancient wellness rituals, pluralversal storyline...

What does it take to turn a passion for running into a thriving retail business? With fall marathon training season in full swing, we thought we would throw it back to a conversation that Chris Ressa had with Kim Caruso , owner of Fleet Feet Poughkeepsie , located at DLC’s Shops at South Hills . Kim shares her journey from corporate America to entrepreneurship, explaining how a casual 5K inspired...

Are You Measuring Foot Traffic Accurately—or Guessing? In this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa sits down with Carla Hinson, Vice President of Solutions at MRI Software, to uncover the top three things most people don’t know about foot traffic. Carla explains how advancements in data collection have moved from simple counters to cell phone tracking, and now to visual AI that provides true, r...

Can a Dead-End Street Become the Hottest Retail Destination in Town? In this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa sits down with Howard Aspinwall, the dynamic owner of Mellow Monkey, a destination home décor and gift shop tucked away on a dead-end street in Stratford, Connecticut. Howard shares his unconventional journey from art school to chef, tech executive, and finally retail entrepreneur—st...

Can you really train your brain to remember everything? In this fascinating episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa is joined by Chester Santos , 2008 U.S. Memory Champion and world-renowned memory expert, to explore how mastering memory can transform your personal and professional life. Chester breaks down the science behind memory training, shares practical applications for business leaders, and...

How did Jason Olsen take a lightbulb idea of improving salon suite experiences to a nationwide franchise with 120 locations? In this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa sits down with Jason , the founder and CEO of Image Studios, to explore his remarkable journey from running a $100M used car dealership to building and scaling his business. Jason shares how the 2008 recession pushed him to reth...

Is the expansion of specialty retailers surprising? Ultimately, physical stores remain vital for consumer interaction and brand loyalty. In this episode of 'What's in Store', Chris Ressa and Karly Iacono explore the reasons behind the success of physical stores in an increasingly digital world, emphasizing the importance of customer experience, pricing strategies, and the discovery element in reta...

What's a 1031 exchange and how can you use it to make money in real estate? In this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa sits down with 1031 exchange expert David Foster to demystify one of real estate’s most powerful wealth-building tools. David, a seasoned Qualified Intermediary (QI), breaks down how 1031 exchanges allow investors to legally defer capital gains taxes when selling and reinvesti...

It's Shawarma with Swagger, and it's coming to America. From humble beginnings in London, Ontario, to a thriving restaurant chain with over 64 locations , Tahini’s is now poised for U.S. expansion—fueled by innovative flavors, a massive social media following, and a franchise model centered around local ownership and community engagement. This week, Chris Ressa talks with Tahini's Founder and CEO...

In this Retail Retold Replay , Chris Ressa dives into the winding path of a complex lease deal at a DLC shopping center in Cheektowaga, NY — where Five Below ultimately took the space, but not before a rollercoaster of negotiations, tenant terminations, and lessons in legal vs. physical possession. The story starts with Office Depot downsizing, a prospective tenant backing out, and ends with a suc...

Through the lens of a single neighborhood shopping center in Lawrenceville, GA, Chris Ressa lays out a compelling story of what’s happening across retail real estate today—and why the industry isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving . Despite headlines about disruption and store closures, America is undersupplied when it comes to retail space, and demand is surging. In Lawrenceville, post-COVID succes...

Summary In this episode of What's in Store , Chris Ressa and Karly Iacono hold their feet to the fire—revisiting bold predictions made at ICSC to see what held up, what flopped, and what’s next. From the unshakable rise of value retail to the surge in food and beverage concepts, they dissect the real trends shaping retail today. They dig into the tug-of-war between experiential and convenience, th...

It's an exciting time at DLC. In a perfect case study of how our vertically integrated team executes in unlocking the value of real estate, Chris Ressa interviews Jack Rosencrans , Vice President of Development at DLC, about DLC's foray into self-storage development in Columbus, OH. The conversation covers the rise of self-storage as a viable asset class, the strategic decision to enter the Columb...

In this episode of Retail Retold, host  Chris Ressa  speaks with  Peyton Thomas , Vice President of Construction at  Renovo Construction . They discuss Peyton’s unique journey from a career in acting to construction, the innovative approaches Renovo takes in the general contracting industry, and the challenges faced during the construction of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in It...

In this episode of Retail Retold, Chris Ressa discusses the current state of the retail market, highlighting growth in retail sales and the implications of recent bankruptcies. He shares a detailed case study of a redevelopment project in Lockport, New York, where a vacant Walmart was transformed into a multi-tenant property. Ressa emphasizes the importance of creativity and adaptability in commer...

Summary In this episode of What's in Store , Chris Ressa and Karly Iacono are building up the buzz leading into ICSC Las Vegas—the "Super Bowl" of retail real estate. It's not just about big deals; it's about the mindsets of the retailers, landlords, and other industry stakeholders. The trio of hot topics? Tariffs, AI, and supply-demand warfare. While tariffs continue to ripple uncertainty, AI's f...

Your best new tenant might be sitting right above your head. On this episode of Retail Retold , Chris Ressa is joined by Bill Fitzgerald of Radial Power to reveal a game-changing secret for retail landlords: your rooftop is prime real estate. Backed by industry heavyweights like Starwood and Related, Radial Power is turning unused roof space into pure NOI with zero CapEx. Forget about just cutting...