Pedal Retail Advisors is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated expansion of Abby's family. 👶 At 3:30pm on March 4th, Henry Owen Rocha signed an 18 year deal on 125 square feet of nursery space.
This 8 lb 2 oz joyful addition will join Big Sister Stella, est. 2024, who has demonstrated strong month-over-month growth with some recent successes conquering potty training and “feeding the baby” at school. This long-term deal will include 24/7 operations and a highly engaged staff.
“This was a strategic expansion we’ve been thoughtfully planning for some time,” said Henry's mother and landlord Abby Davids Rocha. “After an exhausting 40 weeks and some very intense negotiations at ...
There are videos floating around the internet of dogs “choosing” their humans for adoption. Have you seen them? I’m not crying, you are!
Actually, I am definitely crying. In these videos, the humans show up with the intent of bringing home a dog, but by trusting the process, their open mindedness really pays off.
🐶 This deal was a little bit like that. 💞
Joseph Ryan, owner of Force Free DC, wasn’t just looking for any four walls and a leash lease, lol. He’s DC’s top-rated dog trainer (two-time Best of DC, no big deal), and his business had outgrown its temporary setup. That’s when he called Pedal. We came, we sat, and we stayed. (Sorry, but there are going to be a lot of...
Remember the Presidential Fitness Test from elementary school? If you’re reading this newsletter, the answer is most likely, yes. Evidently the program was replaced in 2013, but my daughter’s PE curriculum still includes a nearly identical version, so it’s very much a part of my life again.
Since I didn’t actually enjoy exercise of any form until my mid 30’s (thank you, Peloton), those fitness tests were somewhere between annoying and dreadful. I recall sit-and-reach being kinda fun, but I didn’t like the mile run, and I downright hated the pull-ups. Even when we got to do the remedial version, the “flexed-arm-hang,” I could never, ever seem to do it. I wasn’t alone. I’m pretty sure that...
Last week we started our usual Monday morning meeting by asking our summer interns for their thoughts on our trip to Dallas for The Boutique Summit now that we’d all had time to let the Diet Coke leave our systems.
Intern Ollie remarked that the most notable moment from our trip was during the closing party when Abby and I tag-teamed a conversation with an important contact. We hadn’t expected this encounter and we hadn’t prepared at all; so when we executed a perfectly timed, super sharp elevator pitch it looked (and felt) like we were telepathically communicating.
It was fun to hear that the moment made such an impression, because when it was happening, it really did feel like Abb...
✨ Welcome to a four part series we’re calling “What makes Pedal so unique and effective in the retail real estate industry.” Otherwise known as “Why we need our own TV show pronto.” ✨
Today we’re discussing point #2:
We know Pedal Retailers’ businesses inside and out.
When I started to draft this newsletter I went to Father Internet because I knew there was some quote about proximity and familiarity. Lo and behold, the first page of search results gave me just what I needed:
“Proximity bred familiarity, and familiarity bred comfort.” ― Nicholas Sparks, The Lucky One
Now first of all, I very much do not like Nicholas Sparks
...When things aren’t coming together on a deal, we revisit the “BLTS” with Pedal Retailers to figure out where we can flex. As a reminder, the “BLTS” are the four fundamental pillars of your real estate criteria - budget, location, timing and space criteria. Most of the time, we flex on location and start to look at a different or broader mix of neighborhoods. Sometimes, we flex on the budget or space criteria, but it’s rare that we flex on timing.
When it comes to flexing on timing, Emily, owner of District DabbleLab, could teach a master class.
First, here’s the background on District DabbleLab…
Bethesda native Emily started District DabbleLab in 2019 out of her basement as...
Last weekend I went to Charlottesville for a 30th birthday party. This party, for which I gladly drove two and half hours each way, wasn’t for a dear friend or family member — it was for a business. Not just any business…one of my most favorite retail businesses, Scarpa, a truly one-of-a-kind women’s boutique.
I worked at Scarpa during my last years in college and for a couple years after. I’ve told you many times before that I grew up in a retailing family, so if I was born with the kindling, it was my time at Scarpa that struck the match that lit my bonfire of love for retail.
Scarpa came into being in 1994 when a burgeoning architect in her early twenties, Amy Gardner, recognize...
Some of the most successful Pedal Retailers are called to open their businesses because they can’t find what they’re looking for anywhere else. District Champagne, Merry Pin, and Jurisdiction Clothing all spring to mind. They knew there was demand for their business because they felt it themselves, and when they couldn’t take it anymore, they took action to create what was missing.
Jill Adams’ Pink Moon is one of these businesses that simply had to be born. As a Bethesda mother of three young children, Jill was painfully aware of her (and her friends’) struggle to find time and space to prioritize mental and physical health with a community of other mothers that was not only supportive...
