How Long Does Retail Development Take?
Successful retail deals require an abundant supply of patience. Even under optimal conditions, it can still take a long time for all the pieces to fall into place. Closing a retail deal that works for all parties often requires months of planning and negotiation, and it can take years for a community to realize their full retail development vision.
Months of Planning
Planning for retail development is a vital step, and it’s one that takes time. While trying to speed things up is tempting, you really don’t want to cut corners in the stage where you and the retailers work out a mutually beneficial partnership.
Take Enid, Oklahoma as an example. This is one of the towns where Retail Attractions is currently working. Talking about the retail deals going on in Enid, Rickey says, “We’re about to go to the International Council of Shopping Centers Convention in May … and we will be talking, out there, about 2017 retail deals. That’s the thing, the retailers that you’re seeing come … were deals that we’ve been working on for 24 to 36 months prior to you actually seeing them coming to town.”
The more complex a deal is, the longer it will take to work out. If you’re working with a consultant like Retail Attractions, we can be working on the deals for months before you have to sign contracts with the retailers. Without a consultant, your community will have to work all this out on your own.
Years in Development
Even with optimal conditions, it can still take several years after a deal is signed for the retail development to become a reality. When Rickey was working in Owasso, Oklahoma shortly after 2002, new retail was flooding the city and everything was perfect for retail growth. Even so, it took ten years to fully retail the market.
Rickey says, “One of the most frustrating parts of my work is the job of educating city councilors about how long it takes. When you see a new retail deal under construction somewhere, you can know without a doubt that, even with an accelerated effort and timeline, some poor soul has been working hard to make that deal a reality for at least a couple of years in most cases.”
Deadlines and expectations for project development need to remain realistic. Working with a qualified company like Retail Attractions helps move things along as smoothly as possible, but it’s still not going to happen overnight.
Speeding Things Up
While you don’t have much control over how quickly your retail partners are able to move forward with development, you can at least make sure nothing on your end slows the process down. You’re already on our blog, and that’s a great place to get started. Here, you can learn about ways to market your community, get information about retail development incentives, and find other information you need to know about holding up the public side of a retail development partnership.
Retail Attractions can also help you work through the planning process and development stage of retail growth in your city. We’ll be there to consult with you every step of the way. With our experience and contacts in the retail development industry, we already have a head-start in moving your community through a successful retail development project. Contact us today to talk with Rickey about your community project or get more details about how we can help you.