Article
CBRE’s Arlin Markowitz Shares His ICSC Las Vegas Takeaways
June 20, 2024 2 Minute Read
Arlin Markowitz is back from ICSC Las Vegas, the retail industry’s three-day summit of the dealmakers and industry players driving innovation in commercial real estate. And the leader of CBRE Toronto’s Urban Retail Team (URT) is buzzing about the state of things in the retail world.
“It was the best-attended ICSC in years,” Markowitz says, noting that he and URT Senior Vice President Jackson Turner networked with high street retail teams from around the world, including Singapore, Milan, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris and London. “Everybody came to this and it was powerful to see. It felt like we were back to full-blown 2019 levels.”
Here are some of Markowitz’s other takeaways from ICSC Las Vegas and what’s ahead for retail in Canada.
Restaurants Are Red Hot
Restaurant groups were “all over” the event, Markowitz says. “The restaurant leasing market in the U.S. and Canada is super competitive. If you’ve got well-located restaurant space with a patio, you’re going to have multiple groups competing for it. Or if a drive-thru comes up in the suburbs, that’s a bidding war between every fast food and coffee chain in North America.”
Speaking of fast food, the Jersey Mike’s Subs booth at ICSC Las Vegas was “rammed,” Markowitz says. “They must have given out a thousand subs.” He dishes that Jersey Mike’s is “set to come into Canada in a major way to compete with Subway.”
Fashion is Back
In the pandemic years it seemed that most of the retail deals getting done were in fitness, food, banks, service and pharmacy, not in apparel and fashion. So Markowitz says it was refreshing to see the return of the fashion and athleisure brands at this ICSC Las Vegas. “They were very well represented.”
One such group was Swiss performance running shoe and clothing brand On, which Markowitz says was busy doing deals. Richemont and Kering, two global luxury retail powerhouses, were also on hand. “They hadn’t been at ICSC in some of the previous years so it was great to see them back.”
Markowitz and Turner spoke with a number of new-to-market brands who will be coming soon to Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood – the Urban Retail Team’s domain. And he says a major brand in the high-end furniture space has a flagship deal in the works for Canada and will compete with Restoration Hardware.
Canadian Pride
Markowitz felt proud as a Canadian to see the interest in homegrown restaurant brands like Earls and Joey, a CBRE client. “We had brokers asking us, ‘Do you think Joey would look at New York City?’ ‘Do you think they want a location in San Franscisco?’”
He heard the same conversations about Arc’teryx, another CBRE client. “It was great to see this Canadian brand front and centre at the show. They’re rolling out an expansion globally and in the U.S., just like they are in Canada, having just opened their flagship on Bloor.”
Markowitz felt further pride when he happened upon the new Canada Goose store in the lobby of the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. “I thought if they’re selling winter jackets and Canada Goose apparel when it’s 100 degrees, these Canadian brands are doing something right.
“Canadian retail is having a moment globally.”
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