Kimco Realty Blog

ICSC RECon continues to be one of the most important events for the retail real estate industry, and this year’s event was no different. Many in the industry have said that ICSC RECon 2012 marked the emergence of renewed optimism about the sector’s recovery.

On an organizational level, we came away with new insights on the state of the industry, and shared some of our own, including trends to be following, where opportunities are, and where opportunities aren’t.

Our CEO, Dave Henry, gave his final presentation as chairman of the ICSC, and officially passed the baton to the organization’s new chairman, Brad Hutensky. Mike Melson, Managing Director of Kimco’s Latin America Operations, shared several retail real estate opportunities in the Latin American market in his panel discussion one day. Geoff Glazer, our Vice President of Development and Acquisition for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions, gave insights into retail redevelopment during his roundtable discussion at the conference.

Back at our booth, our iPads for iDeas contest drew a lot of interest. We asked ICSC RECon 2012 attendees to submit their best idea for a topic for a post on our blog. Winners received a new iPad 2. They were:

• Emily Engelhart, Associate at Engelhart Realty & Investment. Her idea was “Brick and mortar vs. online: What’s next?”
• Thomas Dalzell, Associate, National Retail Group for Marcus & Millichap. His idea was “Is it [the recession] really different this time?”

Our executive team is planning to address these topics in upcoming posts on our blog, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks again for your ideas, Emily and Thomas.

Another aspect of the ICSC RECon 2012 that stood out for us was the immense amount of networking we were able to do. Before we left for the event, Glenn Cohen (our CFO) and I had about 20 meetings planned with institutional investors and research analysts.

By the end of the conference, the entire Kimco team in attendance (some 100 folks) had engaged in over 1,000 meetings with retailers, brokers, and analysts across the board. We had some great conversations that churned up new insights and ideas we can take back to our desks and share on our blog.

One conversation that we wanted to highlight for you is the interview Dave Henry took with Brad Thomas, Forbes contributor and Senior Vice President at Bull Realty. They discussed several important metrics about the state of Kimco’s portfolio, balance sheet, and joint venture program that capture a well-rounded picture of our company today. You can tune in here.

Dave also talked about how retailers and the shopping center industry are faring amid the economic recovery, and some of the ways Kimco is attracting tenants to its shopping centers to increase occupancy and income. He noted the margin of safety that Kimco provides its investors, with its strong, diversified base of leasing revenue with which to pay dividends. If you have any questions on what you watch, feel free to leave us a comment.

Overall, ICSC RECon 2012 was another great event to put on the books. How did the event go for you, if you were there?