Friday, December 14, 2018

Has the death of brick and mortar been greatly exaggerated?  Amid the steady drumbeat of news headlines about chain store bankruptcies and closing and failing malls, it is easy to forget that over 85 percent of retail sales still occur in physical stores.  

With the peak holiday shopping season upon us, we have invited a distinguished panel of retail designers and developers to give us an insiders’ view of their strategies for adapting to an overbuilt retail landscape, changing consumer preferences, and the transformation of retail centers into de facto town squares.  

From the recently opened Palisades Village, to the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, and the repurposed Westside Pavilion to the reimagining of the Third Street Promenade, how is Los Angeles and the Westside redefining the future of retail?  

Trends for discussion will include:  the creation of compelling experiences in stores and malls to drive customer engagement, the seemingly counterintuitive shift of retail from online to offline (aka “clicks to bricks”); short-term replacing long-term leases including pop-up stores; and malls renovated into true mixed use developments with office space, entertainment, lifestyle uses, and Food, Food, Food.

Panelists
Neil Baron
Vice President of Real Estate
Cinepolis  *invited

Tammy McKerrow
Senior Vice President
Jerde

Jon Rood
Senior Vice President
Pacific Retail Capital Partners

Moderator
Andrea Korb 
Economic Development Manager
Downtown Santa Monica