Small Businesses Deserve Better

Choosing the right site is the most important aspect of opening a retail business, yet very few small retail business owners have access to the expertise that will help them properly analyze a site. They entrust the success of their business to their own instincts or the advice of an unqualified commercial real estate broker.

Commercial brokers, by and large, have varying degrees of the expertise necessary to help a business owner analyze a trade area for a retail client. For the most part, commercial real estate brokers barely skim the surface when it comes to site analysis. Sometimes the broker’s motivation is to simply fill a vacancy in one of his or her listed shopping centers. The broker may supply the client with a set of demographics, usually for a one, two or three mile radius, and possibly with a map showing the locations of existing shopping centers and the client’s primary competitors. This is NOT site analysis. This supporting data does very little to help the small business owner assess the strengths and weaknesses of a particular site. Therefore small business owners are often making a critical site decision with incomplete data.

I have been conducting real estate site analysis for national corporations such as McDonald’s, Arby’s, and Econo Lube N’ Tune, Inc. for the past 30 years. These corporations know that picking the right site is critical to the success of their business. In fact, McDonald’s Management believes site selection is the single most expensive decision they make on a regular basis. They understand a mistake in selecting their site could cost the company millions of dollars over a twenty year licensing term, and the last thing they want is to deal with an irate store operator for that period. If McDonald’s does make a mistake and chooses the wrong site, it has the ability to absorb the loss because it has many other highly profitable units to offset the poor selection. However, for the small business owner with only one or two locations, a mistake could lead to financial ruin. I would like to help the small business owner reduce the risk of picking a poor location.

I have a lot of respect for the small business owner who oftentimes will put his or her life savings on the line in order to start a business. With my expertise we will:

• Identify the customer and where will they be coming from.
• Define the trade area and I guarantee you it won’t be the one, two or three mile radius! By and large, the professional site selectors define their trade area in drive times, not radii.
• Analyze the key components that drive sales and what each component could mean to the business. These components are residential population, local employment and the strength of shopping centers within the trade area. For a typical fast food restaurant, these three components, on average, will amount to 80% of their business. The percentages may be different for other retail businesses but together we’ll work to figure that out.
• Evaluate other activity generators that might drive sales such as traffic, schools, parks and recreation, etc.
• Conduct a gap analysis to find the strongest local market for the new business.

At Antonoff & Company Brokerage, Inc. we feel that the small business owner deserves better. Our high level of expertise means that we can promise a higher level of service than most other commercial brokerage companies. If you are looking to open a new business or relocate your existing business, give us a ring. We’d love to help you out!    

Joe Langran, an Antonoff & Co. Brokerage specialist, authored this post. Joe has more than thirty years of experience conducting site analysis for national and global corporations. Antonoff & Co. Brokerage takes pride in the quality of our brokers and in their ability to understand the commercial/retail real estate markets.

Brokering with Tenacity

In a down market, the need for tenacity is of paramount importance. I’ve found that the average time for a deal to be consummated has increased exponentially, and there are more pitfalls than ever that can cause a deal to go off course or die. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be) I’ve had experience in a couple of down markets and take nothing for granted.

The key to a transaction is listening to both parties and getting a sense of the issues that have to be resolved to bring the deal to closure. While the prevailing notion is that Landlords are extremely motivated to do deals, I’ve found that there is a lot of nervousness on both sides of the transaction. Landlords don't want business failures which, in many cases, are a larger problem than not leasing space. On the flip side, tenants are trying to negotiate everything in their favor to preclude a business failure.

The broker’s job, in my opinion, is to make both parties feel as comfortable with the deal as possible in these uncertain times. It’s a stressful task at times, but very fulfilling when you have finally crossed that finish line.

Gene Stone, an Antonoff & Co. Brokerage specialist, authored this post. Gene has an impeccable broker record in the leasing and sale of second generation shopping centers in Colorado. Antonoff & Co. Brokerage takes pride in the quality of our brokers and in their ability to understand the commercial/retail real estate markets.

Take a look at our website http://www.antonoff.com/ for more information on our company and our properties. Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions on the blog. You may also choose to follow us on Facebook and Twitter @antonoffco, giving us your tenant suggestions with the tag #heyantonoff.

The Velocity of Real Estate

The term velocity is most often used as it relates to movement of objects, typically applied in  physics, kinetics, mechanics or other such lofty scientific topics.  Velocity is speed in any given direction.

As has often been the case in my life, I take a word in one area of study and apply it (either aptly or not) to another field.  In this case, I would propose using the word velocity as it relates to deals in the commercial real estate field, namely leasing of commercial buildings.

I am constantly asked to evaluate the “success” of a property from a broker’s perspective. In other words, is there interest in leasing the space and how much?  This question might be posed when I am making a proposal for a leasing assignment or trying to justify why I should stay on to lease a project after a period of time.

My response will often utilize this term - i.e., the “velocity” of the leasing refers to the amount of interest there is in leasing the particular space.  I can tell whether a project or space has a good chance to lease based on the “velocity” of inquiries or “deals in the works.”  Are we gaining momentum (i.e. speed) and moving toward a deal (i.e. direction), or not?

Stay tuned for my next blog when I discuss the “velocity” of my dating life!

Jeffrey Hirschfeld, cofounder of Antonoff & Co. Brokerage, authored this post. Antonoff & Co. Brokerage takes pride in the quality of our brokers and in their ability to understand the commercial/retail real estate markets.

Take a look at our website http://www.antonoff.com/ for more information on our company and our properties. Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions on the blog. You may also choose to follow us on Facebook and Twitter @antonoffco, giving us your tenant suggestions with the tag #heyantonoff.

Antonoff & Co. Brokerage, Inc.

Hello and welcome to the new Antonoff & Co. Brokerage blog! We've titled it Real Estate Rumblings because we expect this can become a one-stop-shop for all of your commercial real estate interests. Over time, we hope this blog provides insight into the greater Denver metropolitan commercial real estate market, and brings you up to speed with the latest news and happenings in retail holdings.

Antonoff & Co. Brokerage, Inc. is a full service retail real estate brokerage firm located in Denver, Colorado. We represent developers, landlords and tenants, buyers and sellers of retail property throughout Colorado. We have been active in the Colorado retail real estate market for three generations, and have worked hard to develop and maintain our reputation for integrity, excellent customer service, hard work and tenacity.

We are different from most other real estate brokerage firms in that we not only encourage all of our brokers to work as a team – we demand it. It is our belief that teamwork, an open exchange of information and ideas, and collective problem solving will not only foster a more pleasant working environment for our brokers, but more importantly, will also help us to best serve our clients.

Through three generations of commitment to the retail real estate industry, we have built an incredible base of knowledge, and have established a proven track record of excellence and thoughtful, strategic service to our clients. You can count on a rewarding and successful experience when you hire Antonoff & Co. Brokerage, Inc. to care for your retail real estate needs.

If you haven't checked out our website before, please visit us at www.antonoff.com. Additionally, please consider following our Twitter account @antonoffco for the latest in our business opportunities. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message at info@antonoff.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!