Dick Jasinski (left) and Tim Platt (right) by the NAI Wisinski booth at the ICSC Michigan Idea Exchange

During NAI Wisinski’s bi-weekly retail meeting on Tuesday, a few of the retail associates reported on the ICSC Michigan Idea Exchange which took place in Dearborn, MI last week. Doug Taatjes and Rod Alderink both felt a positive vibe buzzing around the conference. There was a feeling that optimism is high and the attendance, up 20% this year, backed that sense.

Rod went to the conference specifically to get a feel for how shopping centers would fare in the near future, particularly Class B & C centers. He reported that these types of centers, described as neighborhood centers built at least fifteen years ago, still have a tough road ahead. He didn’t see as much interest in these from retailers.

Part of this might be because of all the development going on. Doug noted a large focus on developments that seemed to be 10,000 SF or less. These smaller retail developments, Doug explained, all have one thing in common: food. There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there right now taking big risks to become franchisees of familiar chains. Just this week, he leased space in Goodwill’s new retail center at 2700 Kraft Ave SE to a first time franchisee of Biggby Coffee.

The next ICSC event is in Chicago in October. Stay tuned as NAI Wisinski will be reporting from that event as well.