Commercial Real Estate Trend: U.S. Retailers to Expand Internationally Post-Recession

As the economic recession strengthens its hold, you may have noticed a number of major retail and restaurant brands changing their commercial real estate habits. Whether it’s big box retailers halting construction or cancelling plans for new U.S. sites, or fast food retail chains moving slower in approving franchise licenses or closing underperforming locations, the change in their growth plans is evident.

While many of these changes can be attributed to the current economy, it doesn’t mean that when the recession ends and people begin to ramp up their spending habits again, that these big name brands will resume their manifest destiny plan across the U.S. In discussions with retail brands across North America – from big box home improvement and entertainment/electronics retailers to small network retailers – it is clear that the greatest potential for growth is to look beyond the U.S. for future expansion.

Opportunities abound in markets around the world, like the growing consumer bases in China and India, that are much more attractive than picking a new pad site somewhere in the U.S. that just further segments an existing market. Companies are thinking long-term and international. That doesn’t rule out any new U.S. sites, but the long-term strategy will be to market their U.S. locations heavily to capture market share, and to expand globally to increase it.

George Anderson is Vice President of NAI Global Market Analytics, a service for retailers, banks, financial insitutions and corporate end users. Working together with NAI ReStore, the retail arm of NAI Global, NAI Global Market Analytics helps clients optimize their store, branch and distribution networks.

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