CREW Orange County Featured Major Retailers at their Annual "Retail Runway" Luncheon

IRVINE, Calif. - April 12, 2013 - PRLog -- The Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Orange County Chapter hosted its annual "Retail Runway" Luncheon at The Pacific Club in Irvine, Tuesday, March 26, 2013.  Commercial real estate professionals from all over Southern California attended to hear what retailers have planned for new store openings and new product and concept roll outs for 2013 and projections for 2014. This very popular, sold out event included over 250 attendees.  The panel was moderated by Cynthia Bell of Cynthia Bell & Associates.  

Here is what some of those retailers had to say:

Christina Reeder, Senior Real Estate Representative, 7-Eleven; Reminded the audience how they were the first to operate 24 hours a day and the first to "Supersize."  With 50,000 stores worldwide, 5,000 opened last year, they are entertaining new concepts to continue growing their business such as placement in airports and malls.

Christy Marr, AT & T; Shared how their flagship store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago has a showroom concept featuring an app lounge.  They are additionally showing their support to encourage "no texting" while driving with a "drive mode" option.

Rod Lucio, Vice President of Real Estate for Blaze Pizza, LLC; Also known for his work with Chipotle, was proud to announce a new fast-casual, assembly line artisanal pizza concept. It cooks in less than three minutes and includes the “build your own” experience, similar to that of the Chipotle concept.  You may recognize some of the others involved such as Brad Kent, Executive Chef, Olio Pizzeria and Rick Wetzel of Wetzel’s Pretzels.  Locations are now open in Irvine and Pasadena, and additional restaurants are currently in development in Southern California and across the US.  Franchise opportunities are available.

Kathy Seferian, West Coast Real Estate Director, Wendy's; said “we have a new look”.  They are currently giving their stores a makeover to include Wi Fi  and lounge style seating which will include fireplaces at most locations.  She quoted their founder Dave Thomas in saying "our burgers are square, because we don't cut corners."

Joyce Dery, Director of Real Estate and Franchise Development at Farmer Boys Food, Inc., said “we crack nine million fresh eggs a year.”  Very excited about opening new stores.  She stated they are willing to convert other previous drive through fast food operations with 2,600 – 3,000 sq. ft of space.  Farmer Boys is actively looking for franchise owners.  

CVS, Rite Aid, Vons, Ralphs & Food 4 Less, Darden Restaurants, El Pollo Loco, Home Depot, Starbucks, Big Lots, Big 5 and Yogurtland were also present and had very exciting plans to share.  

CREW-OC is a member organization of The Commercial Real Estate Women Network (CREW Network) and has been serving Orange County real estate professionals since 1988.  CREW-OC is a non-profit organization established to promote and sponsor educational and professional activities for its members in the field of commercial real estate.  For more information about CREW-OC, please visit http://www.crew-oc.org/.  You can also find CREW Orange County  on Linked In, Twitter and Facebook, all linked from the CREW-OC website.