Abby here! I imagine we've all dated someone who seemed alright at first, but in short order, something they did or said gave us the ick. Thankfully, we can bail on the potential relationship the moment we realize there's no future for it...but only because we went on the date in the first place. 

Similarly, the only way to find out if an LOI might bloom in a lease is to jump right in -- even before we know if it chews with its mouth open or administers any alarming subreddits. Enjoy!

Just last month, I had a first day touring with a Pedal Retailer who’d recently graduated from the Dream Space Accelerator. The sun was shining, the cherry blossoms were giving way to fresh new leaves, ...

Faith here! I recently watched Netflix’s America’s Godfathers: The Five Families, and I can’t stop thinking about New York City’s history with the mafia. When I finished the series, I started watching another series on the mafia in Philadelphia – this is my entire personality now. As is our style at Pedal, I couldn't help but see the connections to retail life, and I've shared my observations below. Grazie and arrivederci!

Before we dive in, let me set the stage. The history of the mafia in New York City starts as an immigration story. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Italian immigrants were coming to the United States with little more than their family and the hope of opportunity. Af...

“You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part… the holding.”

These words were spoken by:

1. Samantha Jones to a top-hat wearing bouncer at a club opening
2. Jerry Seinfeld at a rental car counter
3. Ross to a restaurant hostess, thinking he's about to blow it on a date

The correct answer is B, and this line is, IMHO, Seinfeld at its best. It’s a supremely relatable daily frustration delivered perfectly: Jerry is judicious with his words, and yet he makes his point so clearly that no reasonable person could dispute it.

If I had a standup act and Jerry’s talent, I’d also deliver life’s fundam...

Last weekend I had some time to kill while my daughter was at a birthday party, so I took advantage of the party’s location and went to Trader Joe’s. The good news is that I made perfect use of 90 minutes. The bad news is that I violated one out of two cardinal rules of grocery shopping: 

1. Always have a list 
2. Never go hungry 
   

While I did have a general list, I was starving…and boy did it show at the checkout. Do you know how hard it is to spend $200 at Trader Joe’s? My grocery bill at regular ol’ Harris Teeter never hits $200, even when I use Instacart; my small family just doesn't consume all that much. So this was an eye-popper.

Had prices unexpectedly increased at Trader Jo...

I guess it’s been building for a while, but I’m officially on the Formula 1 bandwagon. I’ve never voluntarily watched athletic events, and I've certainly never spent money on one, but here I am trying to figure out how to make a friend with an apartment along the track in Monaco. Yes, I know there are grand prix races in the US, but I’m in it for the champagne and glamour, people.

 I should give due credit to Dream Space graduate Robert who is opening SimRace Orlando. I learned a lot about racing culture and Formula 1 working with him on his Powerhouse Business Plan. So I was thrilled when my favorite podcast, Acquired, released an episode on the history and business of Formula 1.*

On maternity leave, two things have become abundantly clear: 

1. Newborns don’t do much besides nurse, dirty their diapers and sleep
2. In attempting to binge-watch my nostalgic favorite shows while baby sleeps, I found that they haven’t aged well (I’m looking at you Weeds and Sex and the City).

And so naturally, I’ve been doing what anyone in my situation does—scrolling through streaming platforms, convinced there must be something better to watch.

There are thousands of options, and plenty of things that look good. And yet, somehow, it’s easy to end up stuck in this loop of maybe there’s something better if I just keep scrolling.

🪤  Every so often, retail space sear...

 Last week we shared Part 1 of what we might call “lessons gleaned from reading a bunch of books on ancient Greece.” For a quick refresher, Jason with the Golden Fleece reminded us that a popular brand loses value without execution, and Odysseus showed us that success depends on strategy and planning over brute force. 

Today’s dispatch takes us from Crete to Mt. Olympus, which is a real place on the map and in the hearts of all us who’ve loved D’Aulaires Book of Greek Mythology since elementary school.

💔🗡️⛰️ 

Part 2: What I learned from Ariadne, Agamemnon and Mt. Olympus

🤝 Your business partner is a life partner.

For all the attention our culture gives to choosing romanti...

Sheila here, saying Χαίρετε! That’s hello in ancient Greek, apparently. If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you know that I love to connect my nerdy interests du jour to retail real estate. Today we’ll visit the 12th century BCE, where the drama would definitely be on Bravo if Andy Cohen had been there. 

Some months back, I wrote about the story of Oedipus, and how (obviously) it’s a cautionary tale about retail real estate. Lucky for you, my off-duty self hasn’t left the ancient world, and I don’t see a departure anytime soon. Firstly because there’s about a thousand years of material, and secondly because it’s basically Game of Thrones on a recognizable map. 

Whil...