Observations from the Floor of ICSC's RECon Las Vegas
Observations from the Floor of the ICSC's (International Council of Shopping Centers) RECon Las Vegas 2015 from Inland Institutional Capital Partners
This week approximately 35,000 attendees descended on Las Vegas for the annual RECON, the largest shopping center convention of its type. brings together shopping center owners, developers, brokers, investors and importantly tenants. The convention takes place in three halls of the Convention Center and hundreds of gatherings offsite in the massive Las Vegas hotels and restaurants.
Inland once again had its booth at the corner of Main and Main right by the entrance to the largest Hall of the convention center.The four corners of the intersection are occupied by two of the largest global real estate service companies, Inland and a large public retail REIT.
There was non-stop traffic passing by, bringing people into the Inland booth throughout the convention.
Her are a few Observations from the floor:
- There was a constant buzz from a packed floor.  Many people commented that they didn’t remember the floor being so crowded since 2007.
- Once again food draws people.  Fully operating replicas of concepts like Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Moe’s Cantina and others drew crowds to their booths.
- Free stuff draws! SuperCuts offered free haircuts and there was a line of people waiting for a trim.
- Dollar Stores continue to draw people and indicated the desire to open many new stores in the coming 12-24 months.  However, their booths seemed a little less crowded than last year.
- Auto parts retailers drew many to their booths.
- A 3D printed car was on display.  It is a prototype, but may be coming to a mall near you.