Timely Research, Statistics & Trends

It has long been understood, at least anecdotally, that the specialty retail industry provides upside sales potential, innovation, and quick-response solutions by generating additional revenue – and shopper engagement – throughout the common area and in vacant in-line space for the shopping center industry. As the specialty retail industry has grown, the tools for reporting and assessing metrics at the corporate level have evolved on a developer-by-developer basis and a retailer-by-retailer basis, but until now it has not been possible to quantify the industry-wide impact of specialty retail sales.

Specialty Retail Pulse provides top-level benchmark comparisons for the specialty retail industry in North American regional and super-regional shopping centers for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. The findings are compiled from developers and retailers who have agreed to participate in a “blind co-op” by providing specialty retail sales, lease rates and other rent structure details. Through analysis of more than 5,800 individual tenant records totaling more than $600 million in specialty retail sales, Specialty Retail Pulse establishes industry benchmarks for the first time. This movement from anecdotal to quantified data allows both developers and entrepreneurs to gauge their performance and growth against quantified industry standards.

Importantly, it is the goal of Specialty Retail Pulse to expand its coverage to include operating and sales data gathered from lifestyle centers, community centers, airports, gaming, hotels, travel and tourism, colleges and universities and the international market to provide a comprehensive view of this vital industry.

These reports are a must read for anyone in the Specialty Retail Industry. For the first time you will be able to benchmark your own performance against industry.

Sample chart from Specialty Retail Pulse report (order your copy to view category names):

Specialty Retail Pulse is a cooperative effort of Specialty Retail Report and Alexander Babbage.

Specialty Retail Report magazine is the voice of the specialty retail industry (carts, kiosks, pop-up, and temporary in-line stores) and is dedicated to the promotion, growth and success of the specialty retail industry. Each issue of Specialty Retail Report is read by 85,000 industry professionals who turn to its pages for the hottest products, entrepreneur success stories, specialty leasing manager profiles, best practices, visual merchandising, and industry news. SRR also produces the SPREE conference and trade show, the world's largest event for the cart and kiosk industry as well as the Specialty Leasing Summit and industry designation program.

Alexander Babbage, Inc. is a full-service strategy and market research firm providing research and consulting services to shopping centers, retailers, cities, towns, business improvement districts (BIDs), community improvement districts (CIDs), transit oriented developments (TODs), professional sports teams and entertainment destinations. The company is known for its use of leading edge technology to reduce costs, improve turnaround time and maximize insights for each of its clients. Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, the company has a 30-year pedigree understanding consumers, geographies and spending behaviors. Alexander Babbage strengthened its roots in the shopping center industry, when it acquired MAXtrak in 2004 and Stillerman Jones & Co. in 2007. In 2010, the company launched the quarterly Social Media Benchmark Report for shopping centers. Alexander Babbage also owns the shopping center industry’s largest database of consumer shopping behavior and conducts more than 50,000 consumer interviews annually across its verticals.

If you are interested in participating, please email Charlotte Sykes at Alexander Babbage for information.