In my travels around Northern California and a recent trip to Arizona, I am reminded of how retail centers in the late 80s and early 90s looked – a sea of empty store fronts in dire need of repositioning.

In 1992 I did a joint presentation with Andy Gumberg at the Annual Conference for Retail and Developer Design and Construction Executives (CRAMM). Andy is the President/CEO of JJ Gumberg Co., one of the largest owners and managers of Retail Centers in the country.

Proof that we don’t learn from real estate’s inevitable cycles, our topic then - Resurrecting a Retail Center’s ROI Through Re-Imaging - is as applicable today as it was 17 years ago.  

Here is what we said then and what we believe to be even more valid today.

Retail centers, from neighborhood in-line to regional malls, face the on-going challenge of staying relevant and vibrant. The current economy makes this imperative even more important—and presents greater opportunity. As tenants experience hard times, too many centers have vacancies that are blighting their image and damaging their bottom lines.

It’s imperative that owners constantly evaluate their center’s market position to ensure proper alignment with customers’ values and demands. When a center is not meeting market expectations but financial conditions won’t allow major renovations, Re-Imaging is the alternative. Re-Imaging involves changing the aesthetic of a center and adding environmental enhancements, but without the significant expense that comes with structural changes.  Re-Imaging changes perception, draws attention by consumers and most importantly, favorably alters the perception of retail tenants and brokers to the Center. 

Changing a Center’s aesthetics with environmental enhancements starts by studying the interplay between the physical environment and public behavior and perception. It begins with a comprehensive on-site analysis of how tenants and shoppers use a center, the changes necessary to make it more supportive and attractive to their needs and how best to add environmental enhancements to give a “tired” center a cost-effective makeover. 

The process includes 5 steps that will result in returning a center to competitive footing.

Step 1. Understand the tenant mix, buyer behavior, shopping patterns, environmental opportunities, constraints and other special needs of the center.

Step 2. Analyze vehicular and pedestrian circulation and how these patterns impact the ability of shoppers to view and use the center.

Step 3. Evaluate the existing exterior signage and graphics to determine their effectiveness in conveying the desired image, provide strong tenant exposure, cross selling tenants and services, making navigation easy and communicating the right marketing messages.  .

Step 4. Inventory interior environmental enhancements, including graphics, signage, project directories, site maps, display advertising, banners, and other features such as color, flooring, furnishings, kiosks and other architectural details to determine their effectiveness.

Step 5: Investigate exterior architectural features, landmarks and color to evaluate what can or should be strengthened.

The resulting recommendations are presented with before and after renderings depicting the possibilities for re-imaging the center (click to see example). A comprehensive Retail Re-Imaging Audit™ will also provide the planning tools necessary to understand the scale, scope and cost of  implementing changes. It includes a written outline of the re-imaging plan, conceptual drawings of specific re-imaging areas to convey clearer design direction, budgets for implementing each component of the program (i.e. paint, landscape, lighting, signage) and a plan for phasing the improvements.

Centers that have embraced GNU’s Retail Re-Imaging Audit™ (click for PDF) have proven that a minimal investment can make tired centers vital again.