James Valenti, 26

James Valenti was given an unlikely crash course in retail real estate while working in a restaurant: He watched one of the owners negotiate leases and work on possible new locations. Eventually, the owner connected Valenti with a friend of his at Ripco, and that helped Valenti get his foot in the door working on Long Island and Queens retail leasing.

“There was a lot of hesitation from business owners, and a lot of uncertainty around brick and mortar, when I started,” said Valenti about his early years amid the pandemic. “Things were a little bit slower for me. That was probably best. Having no background in real estate at all, it helped me learn at a pace that was better for me.”

He’s been a quick study. Over the last four years, Valenti has worked across all different categories of retail, on both the tenant and owner sides of deals, all across Long Island. That has included representing landlords such as Cedar Realty Trust, Jasko Development, Urban Edge and Heidenberg Properties Group. 

Valenti’s biggest deal to date was helping to find a 34,000-square-foot space in March for a Picklr, a national pickleball franchise, in the Suffolk County hamlet of Centereach, giving the Utah chain a foothold in the East. He’s also helped with mall staples in markets such as Farmingdale and Dix Hills, including the Savers thrift store chain, Planet Fitness and Phenix Salon Suites.

It’s a good time to be working in retail, he said. Higher tariffs and other economic uncertainty have unnerved some, but he’s generally found that retailers, and his team, are going strong. 

“I really like it here, and obviously, as time goes on, hopefully I gain some bigger responsibilities, bigger tenants, bigger landlords, bigger spaces and, the ultimate goal, bigger deals.”