Walking the Floor at the International Council of Shopping Centers conference
By Jotham Sederstrom December 7, 2011 3:00 pm
reprints2:10 – A representative at Walmart’s booth says that the retailing giant has been receiving many requests by brokers to meet with the company’s New York leasing contact to discuss the possibility of a New York City store.
2:20 – Vornado Realty Trust’s booth on the north side of the third floor is filled with company executives meeting with clients. One group is poring over floorplans to Vornado’s New Jersey mall, Wayne Town Center.
2:35 – Stephanie Werther, Starbucks’s director of store development in the city, mans the company’s booth. “We’re looking to expand,” she says. Is there room for yet more Starbucks locations on Manhattan’s already coffeehouse-saturated environs? “Yes, there is plenty of room for growth that is in line with our strategy.” she says.
2:45 – Robert K. Futterman, founder of the eponymously named brokerage company, is networking with other attendees. “There is a lot of great energy here. I’m pretty busy now, so let’s talk later.”
3:00 – Paul Massey, a cofounder and senior executive at Massey Knakal, and Ben Fox are chatting on the hotel’s second floor. “I think I may have closed a deal,” Mr. Fox says. When the Commercial Observer asks if it’s with TD Bank he responds, “You said it, not me.”
Mr. Massey asks where the company’s booth is.
“Well you just go right up, see the escalator? You go up there and hand a right, I mean a left and go to the back of the room and then you kind of do a U-turn,” Mr. Fox said.
“Uh yeah, I’ll find it,” Mr. Massey says with a smile.
