How Retail Brands Battled Landlords Over Rent During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Summary The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 created unprecedented challenges for retail businesses worldwide, leading to widespread store closures, sharp declines in foot traffic, and significant revenue losses. As physical retail operations ground to a halt, many brands found themselves unable or unwilling to meet their lease obligations, triggering a wave of disputes with commercial landlords…....
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Weekly Clicks to Bricks Update
Warby Parker to Open Shop-in-Shops in Target Stores Eyewear brand Warby Parker plans to open five shop-in-shops within Target stores in the second half of 2025. This initiative marks Warby Parker’s first venture into multi-brand retail partnerships, aiming to increase accessibility and reach a broader customer base. (BoF) Rothy’s Plans to Expand Physical Store Presence […]
The Evolution of US Retail Channels: From Physical to Digital and Back Again
The retail landscape in the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades, witnessing a fascinating circular journey from brick-and-mortar dominance to e-commerce disruption and now back to a reimagined physical retail resurgence. This shift presents both substantial opportunities and significant challenges for retailers, particularly as leadership demographics evolve alongside these […]
??️ Podcast launching on Spotify!
You read that correctly. We’ve heard lots of feedback on how the Clicks to Bricks Playbook content is super valuable, but it’s tough to read such dense material. Feedback heard, podcast launched! Find us and subscribe on Spotify, where we’ll be releasing new episodes regularly. Check out the first two below: Episode 1: The Fundamentals […]
Clicks to Bricks Weekly Digest
Nintendo to Open Second U.S. Store in San Francisco’s Union Square Nintendo is set to open its second U.S. retail store in San Francisco’s Union Square on May 15, 2025. The 10,989-square-foot store at 331 Powell Street will offer exclusive products and interactive experiences, with reservations required for the grand opening. (SFgate, SFChronicle) Printemps to […]
Clicks to Bricks Weekly Digest
Google Announces First Texas Brick-and-Mortar Store in AustinGoogle is set to open its first retail store in Texas, located at 11701 Domain Blvd. in Austin’s Domain Northside. This will be Google’s seventh physical store, joining locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Mountain View, Boston, Oak Brook, and an upcoming one in Santa Monica. The Austin store will […]
How to Evaluate Your Store’s Performance in the First 12 Months
Opening a store is one thing—knowing if it’s actually working is another. A new store’s first year is full of unknowns, fluctuations, and learning curves. The key is to analyze what’s working, what’s not, and where to pivot before it’s too late. Here’s how to diagnose performance, adjust expectations, and shift from pro forma to […]
Retail Store Buildouts: The Punch List
A punch list is your final quality control checkpoint before opening your store. It’s a list of unfinished work, defects, or minor issues that need to be corrected before the project is fully complete. But here’s the reality: There will always be imperfections. The key is knowing what must be fixed now and what can…...
Value Engineering a Store Buildout
Building out a retail store is expensive, but not every dollar is equally important. Value engineering is the art of cutting costs without sacrificing functionality, customer experience, or brand integrity. Here’s how to strategically reduce expenses across construction, millwork, and key materials—while still opening a beautiful, high-performing store. 1️⃣ Understand Where the Money Goes Before…...
Store Design: The Employee Experience
Most brands obsess over customer experience when designing a store—but what about your employees? A well-designed store makes it easier to work, sell, and stay productive, which leads to happier employees, lower turnover, and better sales. Here’s how to map out your store’s design with employee experience at the core. 1️⃣ Start with the Employee…...
Retail Chart of Accounts
When opening retail stores, it’s likely that you’ll need to update your chart of accounts for things that are unique to brick and mortar retail. You may not need all of these, but it’s better to have zero-balance lines than to wish you had them years ago for addition visibility. Retail-Specific Chart of Accounts Additions…...
Game Theory & CRE
Game theory has always intrigued me since learning about it in the context of economics and business. And I’ve always felt the problem with information asymmetry and opacity in CRE felt like a game theory dilemma, but I’ve struggled to put it into words. So naturally I asked ChatGPT to confirm/counter my hunch and, if…...
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A Map for NYC’s Neighborhoods
Defining NYC neighborhoods is akin to defining cocktails: everyone has a different definition. There are lots of maps out there, with some motivations being that brokers and landlords want to classify their locations in a higher rent neighborhood (so they can charge those higher rents). While there’s no right or wrong answer, you should definitely…...
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