We're always talking about how LONG retail leases are...

"Longer than most first marriages!"
"Longer than a presidential administration!"
"Longer than undergrad!"

But sometimes life happens, plans change, and even if your business is humming along, there may be a time when you need to exit your lease before the expiration of the term (translation: get out before you're supposed to).

Since we sign leases with the intention to stay for the whole term (and maybe longer with some renewal options), the instances when we want or need to exit early really are (and should be) rare. Obviously if your business is not succeeding and the end times are nigh, that's a clear occasion where you'll exit y...

Last month I got a question so good that I decided to write a whole newsletter about it.

The question was:

“A landlord is offering a space for a long term lease - would she lease it to me as a pop-up, for just six months or so?”

It is such a good question that I couldn’t pack a full answer into the end of our Q&A. Here’s what I said in the webinar: Don’t worry about what a landlord will or won’t let you do. Instead, stay true to YOUR business plan and make a plan that works for YOU.

But, let’s assume you’ve done just that and concluded that it does work for your business plan to pursue a short term deal. Would a landlord even be willing to entertain it?

The short answer is maybe. Deal...

I had a stack of books and a daily newspaper during the holiday break, but it was a recent article in The New Yorker that really got me thinking. So you can thank Cal Newport's “The Year in Quiet Quitting: A new generation discovers that it’s hard to balance work with a well lived life" from the December 29th issue for today's naval-gazing newsletter.

Newport argues that like the Boomers and Millennials before them, Gen Z is just taking its generational at-bat of reimagining the balance and intertwining of being a person and needing a job. As an elder millennial approaching my 42nd birthday, I could recognize the generational differences between my parents, my peers, and kids these days.

ICYMI:  “LOI” stands for Letter of Intent, and it refers to the short document that you and your landlord will trade back and forth to nail down the most important business terms of a potential lease -- the fundamental elements of your relationship together.

We’ve heard it so many times from first-time retailers. “Oh, I already got an LOI on that space, so this is how much the rent costs.” NO, SIR! This is not Crate&Barrel where standard shams cost $39 and a glittered foam apple costs $72. 

When you start searching for the right space, you’re not in a Crate&Barrel at all. You’re in a loud, crowded Turkish bazaar. You browse stalls until you find something that catches your eye, and then th...

If you've ever called the number on a "For Lease" sign, we're guessing the conversation you had was pretty confusing.

Maybe it went a little something like this...

You: "Hi, I was calling to get some information on the store I saw on Main Street that's empty, next to the flower shop?"

Mystery broker (let's call him "Kevin"): "OK?"

You: "Um, yeah, well, is it available?"

Kevin: "Yeah."

You: "Uhh, OK, how much is the rent?"

Kevin: "It's $40 a foot."

You: "Oh, OK...how much is it per month?"

Kevin: "Well, it's $40 a foot plus triple nets and it's about 2,000 square feet. Can you send me your business plan?"

You: "Wait - I'm not even sure if I'm interested, I don't understand how much ...

We've got some thoughts on searching for the "one" perfect retail space, and why the entire premise is misguided and potentially derailing.

We've all seen fictionalized accounts of a lovelorn someone searching for the "perfect" partner. You know the ones -- we watch as the protagonist goes on an endless string of first and second dates, only to determine that no suitor is right, much to the frustration of their friends and family who keep urging them to stop being so picky. Like Molly's friends and family in Insecure before things got serious with Taurean.

Is this entire concept pretty antiquated and ridiculous? Yes. Is it relevant to retail real estate? Also, yes.

You see, ...

Yurt, studio-apartment, mansion, mid-century split level…whatever. Most of us are lucky enough to have somewhere to call home. 🏠 That means that everyone comes to the table with a varying level of real estate knowledge. Have you rented an apartment? Bought a house? Binge watched House Hunters on HGTV (who hasn’t?) If that’s the case, you’ve brushed up against the residential real estate world.

So many people who come to us eager to start a business want to transpose their residential knowledge into this new commercial context.

I'm here today to break down why you should leave your residential baggage at home when searching for retail space.

Here are a few of the biggies we hear a...

One of us at Pedal is in full wedding-planning mode, and the other is mid-way through year eight of marriage. We LOVE using the marriage metaphor for leasing, because this sh!t is SERIOUS, and it's not always pretty.

Here's how we see the leasing process through this exceedingly relevant lens:

Writing your business plan is an exercise in self-exploration. It's your time to travel through Europe with all your belongings on your back, drinking cheap wine, and going to that sketchy club with Franz-with-the-hair from Bruges. When you come back home, you'll return to your life, but you'll know yourself (and probably some other people) a whole lot better.

Okay, so this "self-exploration" isn'...