“Getting a retailer interested in and visiting a smaller market like Montgomery, AL isn’t easy, but with Placer’s True Trade Area and competitive tracking we were able to prove the strength of our center and execute on our initiatives to upgrade The Shoppes at EastChase.”

-- Mary Beyer Lell, Principal, Head of Leasing

‍The Challenge

Attracting a national tenant to a smaller market

One of Crawford Square’s properties, The Shoppes at EastChase, is a 600,000 square foot shopping center in Montgomery, Alabama. Anchored by Aldi, Dillard’s, Target, and Kohls, it’s the regional shopping destination for central Alabama. When Crawford Square began leasing and management of the asset the occupancy was 76%. With 20 years of real estate experience, Principal and Head of Leasing Mary Beyer Lell knew it was the dominant asset in the region and was determined to fill it with desirable national tenants that would drive increased traffic to the center.

“The market seems too small. Is our competition successful there?”

One of the tenants Mary Beyer reached out to  was a personal care and beauty retailer that wasn’t yet in Montgomery, but that she was certain would be a hit. She received a typical response  for smaller, non-coastal markets:
1. The trade area is too small, and
2. The sales will not justify our investment.

Before working with Placer, Crawford Square couldn’t provide the data to disprove the retailer’s concerns, decreasing their odds of bringing a top tier, highly desired retailer to Montgomery.

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All of that changed when Crawford Square signed up for Placer. Overnight, Mary Beyer and her team were able to utilize Placer and disprove the initial concerns from the beauty retailer, addressing the challenges from her initial pitch with clear, objective data for each objection raised.

‍The Solution‍

The market isn’t too small - the true trade area is far larger than expected.

One of the first things Mary Beyer did was set out to prove that The Shoppes at EastChase was a regional draw, not just a local shopping center. Using Placer to look at the True Trade Area, she could pull the trade area of visitors that came to the center 12 times or more in the past year. Instead of the traditional “10 mile radius” that a retailer may use to assess demand and population for a store, Mary Beyer showed that people came to The Shoppes at EastChase, at least monthly, and many times more often than that, from upwards of 50 miles away, far larger than what the retailer assumed was happening. In fact, more than 25% of the monthly traffic came from OUTSIDE the 10 mile radius.

Learn more about Trade Area

Other beauty stores aren’t just surviving in the area, they’re some of the top in the state

The other thing Mary Beyer proved for their target tenant using Placer was that their competitor not only did well in Montgomery, but that it was one of the top stores for foot traffic for that chain in the entire state.

While the lack of sales was part of the reason Crawford Square couldn’t land the tenant previously, they were able to use foot traffic as a good proxy of store performance, below, which further convinced the beauty retailer to feel bullish about opening in that market.

Learn more about Ranking

The Outcome

SUCCESS: A strong opening, 20% rent increases, an Aerie deal & more

Using Placer’s data and reports, Mary Beyer was able to update her pitch to the beauty retailer and convince the retailer to visit the center, ultimately leading to an executed lease with them. Not only did the tenant do well once opened, but Suzanna Edwards, VP of Marketing at Crawford Square was told  by the retailer how strong the grand opening was: “the retailer’s team underestimated the grand opening and the first month’s sales and traffic, as they tripled their monthly sales goal in their first grand opening weekend, while some of the retailer’s regional team members told us that it was one of the strongest grand openings they've had in several years. AND that was even going through a pandemic where consultations were limited and they had no testers."

While the Placer data assisted Crawford Square in landing a highly sought after retailer and a first to portfolio tenant, it enabled the Crawford Square team to take the asset to the next level. With that tenant in place, Mary Beyer and team were able to capitalize on a few other endeavors as a result:

1. They used that name brand tenant to raise rental rates for other tenants, ultimately pushing rents 20%.

2. They pitched and landed Aerie as a tenant, another company they had engaged many times previously but with no success.

3. They executed a lease with a prominent yoga and athletic wear retailer, who will be opening in the fall.

Ultimately, Mary Beyer and the team at Crawford Square used Placer to land a national tenant by proving, objectively, the strength of the center and the size of the trade area.  We look forward to working with them on more projects going forward, and can’t help but share their enthusiasm.

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