Why are some brokers "free"? 🤔

Remember the “I was today years old when I learned…” moment on TikTok where we all learned a lot of trivia like Australia is wider than the moon? Or the IRL moment when Sheila (at 35) finally figured out that Free Slurpee Day is always on July 11th (get it? 7/11!)

Today, we have one for you: big retailers are able to thrive in commercial real estate (when mom-and-pops struggle) because… retail real estate is actually a core business function for these larger companies. 

Think about it -- if you’re Starbucks, your real estate is not something you have to deal with periodically… it’s an everyday thing. You’re constantly opening stores, closing stores, renewing leases, making modifications to add a drive through, closing for renovations… the list is almost as long as the number of different custom Starbucks drink orders. Managing commercial real estate is as important to making Starbucks work as its HR department or PSL marketing team.

That means that Starbucks (and other companies of its size) have entire in-house commercial real estate departments. Smaller companies with many locations may not have a whole department, but they have a Director of Real Estate (or similar sounding job title.) These companies still work with outside brokers to negotiate their real estate transactions, but in this arena, everyone involved in the day-to-day work of dealing with leases is a commercial real estate expert.

So, it’s not like Starbucks and lululemon and SoulCycle have just learned so much about real estate from their many deals that they can thrive in CRE, or that their money or power makes them exempt from the system. They have experts on their team who can help them go toe-to-toe with big landlords.

It’s not a massive conspiracy to keep regular people from successfully opening and operating brick-and-mortar businesses…it’s regular old economies of scale at work.

You know us… it’s not enough for us to simply blow your mind 🤯 (though we so enjoy doing it) – we are also problem solvers. This simple fact – the job of Real Estate Departments and Directors – is the reason for our existence. We bridge the gap between a badass owner/ operator retailer (also, a commercial real estate outsider) and a strong lease for a fabulous space. We provide all of the expertise – and then some – of an in-house real estate professional without the $150k+ salary and commitment of a full-time employee.

So, if you’ve wondered how big retailers get great leases without paying outside real estate advisors and relying on landlord commissions alone… now you know: they actually ARE paying! They’re paying for the expertise they need, just in the form of an employee rather than an outside consultant.

Now go dazzle some other retail nerds with your “today years old” tidbit!