Retail Retold

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...

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...