By Pam Banegas –


 

The old familiar “Play Ball” has now rung out in ball fields all across the country! Baseball is such a simple game which can be contrastingly different from day-to-day. It can hold the highest of euphoria for its fans (or the lowest of despair)…depending on how the players interact on a certain day. It’s so unpredictable – although “experts” try to predict outcomes – that it is glorious!

 

Switching hitters for a moment, the acceleration of online sales is seriously threatening the landscape of brick-and-mortar retail stores, whether located inside a mall or in an outdoor retail center. This surge in sales has been growing at a rapid pace. Because of the convenience of online shopping, along with the demographic age of shoppers becoming younger and more technologically savvy, the trip to the mall/outlet store is developing into a thing of the past. This is evident in the recent press releases of store closings such as RadioShack, Staples, Abercrombie & Fitch, Barnes & Noble, Aeropostale, J.C. Penney, Gap, and even Macy’s (from USA Today, 3.12.2014). It’s not surprising to find several stores on this list whose demographic is the young, online shopper!

 

As a retail center/mall owner, what do you do about the impending maturity on your CMBS loan? There are over 1,500 CMBS retail loans maturing in 2014 and over 3,000 maturing in 2015. This is important to YOU – as a retail center/mall owner – since you want to make the right decision regarding your approaching maturity, given all of the recent trending in retail knowledge, for your future economic responsibility.

 

Back to Baseball: You certainly don’t want to feel like Costello when Abbott is explaining “Who’s on first, what’s on second, I don’t know is on third!” When trying to determine which is the right play for you to make in your [retail center/mall ownership] game, you might feel like you’re in the middle of “Who’s on first” when dealing with the servicers on your own! It can be as frustrating as Costello trying to get a straight answer from Abbott, when – all along – Abbott is speaking the truth…albeit in his own language, where it feels like only he understands what he’s saying.

 

We are YOUR advocate with servicers; your baseball manager! Contact 1st Service Solutions today to see how we can help you determine your batting order to provide the great hit you need in deciding the outcome of your future game in the world of retail center/mall ownership. Let’s PLAY BALL!!!