Blog Posts: Retail Law Advisor
Visit the Full BlogThis blog keeps you connected to timely developments and emerging issues in retail law and covers a wide range of topics related to the retail, restaurant and consumer industry. We invite you to learn more about Goulston & Storrs and our Retail, Restaurant & Consumer Group.
Last Minute Shifts to Last-Mile Delivery Centers: Considerations for Retail Landlords
Owners of shopping centers and other retail spaces are again increasingly looking to novel uses, including distribution and warehouse uses , sometimes called “fulfillment centers”, to fill growing vacancies. These emerging uses raise a number of potential legal issues. The retail industry is undergoing what appears to be a...
Sustainable Fashion – A G&S Panel Discussion
Introduction On January 13, 2020, Goulston & Storrs PC hosted a panel discussion featuring leaders in the fashion industry’s movement towards more sustainable practices. The panel was organized by Jen Furey, a member of Goulston & Storrs PC’s retail group, and Ana Gonzalez Herrera, the founder of the boutique...
Retail-to-Industrial Conversions: Revolution or Niche Trend?
It may have been unthinkable ten to fifteen years ago, but the shift in consumer shopping patterns from brick-and-mortar stores to online platforms has resulted in the emergence of retail-to-industrial conversions over the past few years. With lower demand for retail space in many markets, several developers and major...
What’s Old is New Again: Department Stores Partner with Online-Only Secondhand Apparel Companies
Apparel merchandisers are predicting that resale will soon become a force in the industry and retailers are beginning to take notice. Increasingly, young shoppers are turning to online, resale and rental for their clothing needs and department stores are currently experimenting with offering secondhand apparel as a way to...
E-Commerce and Industrial Real Estate: “Last Mile” Delivery and What Else You Should Know
In recent years, the extensive disruption to the retail real estate landscape caused by the expansive growth of e-commerce (such as altered consumer shopping habits, increased brick-and-mortar vacancies, and big box retailer bankruptcies) has been well-cataloged and analyzed both within the commercial real estate industry and, more broadly, by...
ICSC RECON 2019: In Pursuit of Innovation
The Las Vegas Convention Center hosted ICSC RECon 2019 this week from May 19-22. This year’s conference was held under the motto “Less traditional. More Innovative”, reflective of the dynamic changes taking place in the retail real estate industry. True to this motto, the future of retail was on...
The Intersection Between Technology and Retail: The Use of Blockchain Technology in Tracking Supply Chains
In the past few years, many industries have poured resources into exploring how they can use blockchain to grow. The retail industry is no exception. During 2018, the U.S. retail sector spent double the amount of money on blockchain technology than it had in 2017 and annual revenues from blockchain...
Intrusion or Tool: Consumer Data’s Increasing Role in Retail
It’s no secret that retailers have access to more information about their target consumers than ever before. This information can help retailers not only to target their broad market but also to tailor the communications they deliver to each segment of that market. Customers, on the other hand, are...
Second Chances – Embattled Retailers Look to the Next Chapter for Their Brands
What’s old is new again. The intellectual property of legacy brick-and-mortar retailers is increasingly being repurposed for decidedly modern ventures. Although the fate of Toys "R" Us, Inc. has captured the most media attention, a number of prominent retailers have begun to repurpose and revitalize their brands in a...
Augmented Retail – The Use of Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality to Enhance the Customer Shopping Experience
As competition between brick-and-mortar stores and online shopping continues, retailers with physical stores are using cutting edge technologies to offer unique shopping experiences and added service to consumers. One type of technology that is being used in brick-and-mortar stores is artificial intelligence. Amazon, arguably one of the most disruptive...
Down But Not Out: Using Showrooms to Revamp Brick and Mortar Retail
Recent trends such as pop-ups suggest that consumers and retailers alike are not prepared to give up on brick and mortar stores, but that they are looking for more creative alternatives to the traditional arrangement. Clothing retailers have begun exploring use of showroom-style spaces to revitalize and reframe the shopping...
Leveraged Returns: How Big Box Retailers are Using In-Store Fulfilment Centers to Bring Consumers Back to Brick-and-Mortar
The growth of e-commerce over the last two decades has forced traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to rethink their operations in order to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market. For some, this means developing websites and mobile apps to entice consumers with an omnichannel shopping experience. However, a few large retailers...
ICSC RECon 2018--Stepping Into the Future
The Las Vegas Convention Center hosted ICSC RECon 2018 last week from May 20-23. Upon their entry into the Convention Center’s Central Hall, this year’s RECon attendees were greeted by the ICSC Innovation Exchange. This interactive exhibit showcased a broad range of new technologies, including autonomous security systems, digital storefronts and...
Pop-Up Stores- From Mall Kiosks to Dedicated Mall Spaces
It seems that everywhere we turn, there is another story about how the traditional, enclosed shopping mall is facing a slow and painful death. Big box and other brick and mortar stores are closing, and mall landlords are desperate to fill increasingly empty space . To do so, landlords...
A Grocery Attack on Multiple Fronts
Amazon has entered the grocery store space with a bang. From the recent opening of its AmazonGo store , to its acquisition of Whole Foods last August, Amazon has threatened to disrupt the grocery store industry and has jolted the stock price of many of its competitors. But will...
Vitamin D and Retail: But Not Without Due Diligence First
We’ve all read about the question marks floating around the fate of brick and mortar retail in America. Factors like the strength of e-commerce and shifting consumer preferences (such as the popularity of urban centers over suburbia and consumers’ yearn for experiences over traditional shopping trips) are challenging landlords...
New Experiences, New Retail Opportunities
Despite all of the noise about the rise of e-commerce and omnichannel distribution and the demise of brick-and-mortar, 85% of retail sales are still made in physical stores , and physical stores will continue to be at the core of retailers’ efforts to enhance their brands and drive sales...
The Cure For The Last Mile? Retooling Shopping Malls as E-commerce Distribution Centers
In addition to gigantic warehouses that e-commerce companies are constructing away from population centers where real estate is limited or too pricey, shopping malls and former shopping mall sites are well poised to be the newest e-commerce logistics and distribution hubs. With the deluge of vacant malls and vacant...
Retail Hybrids: Following Trends in Cars, Sports and Food
Hybrids of many sorts have been trending in countless industries throughout the years and show no sign of fading away anytime soon. Toyota announced that it sold its 10 millionth hybrid car this year, twenty years after launching its first Prius. Prior to this year’s NBA Final, the New...
ICSC Deal Making Conference Explores the Changing Retail Industry
The ICSC New England Conference & Deal Making was held from July 18 through July 20, 2017 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Registered attendance at the Conference was strong again this year, with over 1,200 people registered for the show. The sessions on the opening day of the...
ICSC RECon 2017 – ICSC RECon Continues to Draw the Crowds
ICSC RECon 2017 was held last week from May 21-24 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This year, the conference lived up to its billing as the “World’s Largest Retail Real Estate Convention” with an estimated crowd of 37,000. This represents about a 2.7% increase over last year and...
Getting Past the Last Mile: Delivery Challenges For E-Commerce Businesses
E-commerce businesses have changed the relationship between consumers and retailers through the advent of expedited and low-cost home delivery services. Now, many consumers anticipate both free shipping with their purchase, and to receive their items in a short one to two day window. While there is significant growth in...
The Rise of Concierge Retail
Retailers have always had to balance a number of different competing factors in order to stay competitive, including location, marketing and convenience. As discussed in this space, in today’s market, many retailers are employing an omnichannel retail strategy, making their items available for purchase through multiple channels, such as...
Leveraging Digital Tech to Make Brick and Mortar Retail A Destination
With a growing percentage of retail sales shifting online , brick-and-mortar retailers are adopting novel approaches to enrich the experience of a visit to their stores. In some cases, stores are using novel technologies to attract new customers. For a limited time, Bloomingdale’s flagship in Manhattan featured a “Clothing-to-Go&rdquo...
The (Border) Adjustment Bureau: Hold On to Your (Imported) Hats
Retailers would be wise to pay close attention to the upcoming tax-plan deliberations of the 115th U.S. Congress. A proposal currently being considered would adjust the U.S. corporate tax by making imports a non-deductible expense. This adjustment is intended to create incentives for domestic production, as companies would no...
Upscale Food Halls—On Trend and On The Rise
The growth of high-end food halls is taking off around the country as consumers seek fast, fresh, high-quality, chef-driven meals with a local touch, and as landlords seek to cash in on the continued growth of fast-casual dining. These boutique-style, upscale food halls are modeled more after famous European...
Blockchain – The Future of Real Estate?
Bitcoin and blockchain technology have been gaining publicity in recent years, and although they are primarily known for their use as a digital payment system, there are also promising uses in many areas where trust, cost and efficiency can be improved, including real estate. So what is blockchain, exactly...
Industry-Wide Confidence Shines Through At ICSC’s 2016 Law Conference
The 2016 ICSC Law Conference was held last week at the Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Florida. Attendance was very strong this year, with over 1425 lawyers, paralegals, lease administrators, brokers and other retail real estate professionals attending. The strong participation seems to reflect wider confidence in our industry, with...
Food For Thought: How Delivery-Only Food Service Is Impacting Retail Real Estate
Today’s consumer is a tricky one – she is impatient and demanding. She requires excellent service in the blink of an eye (or perhaps, more appropriately, in the swipe of a finger), and likes to eat meals made with high quality ingredients. Celebrity chefs have taken note. Chefs like...
Selfies: Changing the “Face” of Retail
Selfies are everywhere. From selfie sticks to photo editing applications, people are looking for new and better ways to take photos of themselves. At the same time, retailers are creatively taking advantage of our selfie obsession. Companies such as Crest and Freshii have been gathering market research from consumer...
- Page 1 of 2