You have a vacancy problem.
100 prospects per day. No bites. Get creative.
Ask your landlord for permission to allow a POP-UP SHOP in the vacancy, and determine a pop-up rent ahead of time.
Determine the uses you are targeting (See my “Top 5 Uses” Article) and seek out retailers with multiple locations or hot new single-store operators who have EXCESS MERCHANDISE.
This week, I visited a 15,000sf country western store with three locations and a 4,000sf army navy store with four locations. These stores are total destinations and they have a ton of merchandise.
Apparel retailers are disappearing from shopping centers. When I approach them about expanding, they usually say no. I counter that by offering them an affordable rate for a pop-up shop in my center to give them a taste for the potential without putting a big lease and up-front costs on them.
The challenge for these retailers is typically staffing, and not merchandise. So be ready to counter that objection.
Never consider offering pop-ups to service businesses.
And when you write up a short-term pop-up lease, make sure to include the landlord’s right to recapture.
