Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate

Fascinating trend in retail shopping patterns by shoppers aged 18-25 - What do you think it means?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:45:14 -0800

According to a new article on the Women's Wear Daily site by Vicki Young, there is a fascinating trend in retail shopping patterns by shoppers aged 18-25. Here is an excerpt from the article dated January 17th, 2012:

"Consumers between the ages of 18 and 25 would rather shop in brick-and-mortar stores for clothing and shoes, according to a study at LIM College, although 66% said they head online to do product research and price comparisons first. Additionally, while social media plays a role in brand awareness, 88% said they opt not to shop on Facebook or Twitter."

As a broker who does a lot of retail tenant rep work, it is the second sentence that is most surprising. All we hear about these days is the importance of retailers having an active role in the social media world. Pick up any Inc. Magazine or Entrepreneur Magazine and over half of the articles are devoted to helping your business have a stronger social media presence. According to this, that role may not be as important as we once thought.

This is further evidence that you'll never be able to replace the act of touching an item you wish to purchase, no matter how fancy or popular the website and/or social media presence.

What do all of you make of this? What are you seeing out there as far as other fascinating trends in retail shopping patterns?

Neal Swanson is the designated broker and owner of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage based in Seattle with expertise in retail and office leasing and investment sales. For more information on site selection, leasing, or investment sales in the greater Puget Sound, please contact Neal Swanson at (206) 718-4963 or swanson@faircommercial.com. To search retail or office properties for sale or lease, please visit Fairhaven Commercial's website 24/7 here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Blaine Office Building For Sale - Investment property with huge upside potential

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:52:19 -0800

Make sure to take a look at this Blaine office building for sale listed by Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., for $750,000. With the current financials, this represents a 6.67% cap with less than half the building currently occupied. This is a tremendous opportunity to develop an upside to this unique Blaine office building for sale. Take a look at the flyer here or watch the video below or by checking out the Fairhaven Commercial youtube channel here.

This 12,144 square foot office building for sale in Blaine, WA has three floors with a rooftop deck overlooking the bay and White Rock, BC. It sits just minutes from I-5 and the Canadian border. It has a diverse tenant mix, steady leasing inquiries, and a truly unique renovation completed around 2000.

For more information on this property or another office building for sale in Blaine, WA, be sure to search office buildings in Blaine or Whatcom County here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Office Space in Bellingham Part 1 of 2

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:38:04 -0800

Office space in Bellingham is varied in construction type, cost, location, and amenities. Office space in Bellingham is usually marketed by brokers who specialize in commercial real estate, but is sometimes "marketed" by office building owners with a sign in the window or on Facebook. Here is a summary, some stats, and a way to search office space in Bellingham for free.

SUMMARY:

As with most markets, Bellingham has class A, B, and C office buildings (you can google what each "class" of office property means, but everyone has a different definition and it is difficult to compare a class B building in Bellingham with a class B building in Seattle, New York, or smalltown, USA). Bellingham is mostly comprised of class B & C properties. These properties are scattered throughout the city with a concentration in downtown Bellingham, Fairhaven, Iowa Street, and areas of North Bellingham including Bakerview Rd., Meridian, and Pacific Highway adjacent to I-5.

Additionally, office space in Bellingham that is widely considered "class A" can be found in Barkley Village and Bellwether Way near the Hotel Bellwether. Most national tenants will select one of these locations when opening or expanding office space in Bellingham because the office buildings in these areas resemble the class A properties that are found in larger markets. Both of these markets also have plenty of class B properties, but with rare exception, are the only areas in all of Whatcom County with "class A" office buildings.

While there are many variables that can affect the effective rental rate, the following are loose guidelines of pricing for each class exclusive of NNN costs:

Class A: $18-$25.00 per rentable square foot

Class B: $12-$20.00 per rentable square foot

Class C: $4-$14.00 per rentable square foot

Part 2 of 2 in this blog post focuses on the statistics and action steps involved with office space in Bellingham. We will talk about vacancy rates, total office square feet in Bellingham, and most importantly, how you can search for office space in Bellingham for free!

Click here for part 2 of 2 of this post on office space in Bellingham.

Click here to search for office space in Bellingham.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Office Space in Bellingham - Part 2 of 2

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:19:58 -0800

Part 2 of 2 - Office Space in Bellingham

This is part 2 of a report on office space in Bellingham. In part one of that article, I wrote about the current market for office space in Bellingham and discussed the different types of office space, their location, and their pricing. Click here to view Part 1 of the story.

as continued from Office Space in Bellingham - Part 1 of 2

STATISTICS:

The Whatcom County Real Estate Research Report is put out by Western Washington University each year. It covers just about every aspect of real estate in Bellingham, but the section we're concerned with here is the commercial supplement. This supplement, populated by a handful of brokers who exclusively lease and sell commercial real estate, breaks the city down into 26 territories. Each territory has the total square footage that has been constructed in that territory and the total vacant square feet within those buildings. This gives a vacancy percentage that we can then compare to other markets or to our historic records. For the purposes of this post, we'll take a look at the office property statistics.

You can look at the report here, but essentially it says that office space in Bellingham is currently experiencing a 9.69% vacancy rate. There is a total of 5,487,732 square feet of office space in Bellingham, and 531,763 square feet of that total is vacant, and currently being marketed for lease.

This report will never be 100% current, but it does provide benchmarks that can be used when comparing different markets, years, or neighborhoods. Take a look and let me know if you have any qeustions.

NOW WHAT?

Want to know more? Want to search available office space in Bellingham? Here a list of sources for you to search for office space in Bellingham for free:

Want to search office space for lease in Bellingham? Click Here.

Want to search office buildings for sale in Bellingham? Click Here.

Want to search office space for lease in Whatcom County? Click Here.

Want to search offices buildings for sale in Whatcom County? Click Here.

Don’t forget the two biggest reasons to use a broker when searching for your next office, retail, or industrial property for sale or lease in Bellingham are:

1. It is free! Most tenant representation brokers work for free. The landlord pays their fee, typically a percentage of the total lease deal once completed. So why not pick the brain of a broker for an hour or two before you begin your search?

2. The best location for your particular use is not always “on the market.” It could be that the perfect spot for your business is currently available, but only the local brokers are made aware. This is not uncommon and using a broker also insures you’ll be the first to know about listings before they hit the websites mentioned above.

Search office space in Bellingham

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

9 Bellingham office buildins for sale under under $300,000

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:02:06 -0800

As of January 14th, 2012, there are 9 Bellingham office buildins for sale under $300,000. This is a significant shift from where we were just a few years ago where a property under $300,000 sold almost immediately. Bellingham office buildings for sale under $300,000 are usually small, stand-alone buildings with good street visibility. They typically provide good signage opportuniteis but have limited parking available. Most often, these small office buildings in Bellingham are sold to insurance agents, financial planners, salons, small medical establishments, or real estate companies. The mix of size, parking, price, and visibility lends itself to certain uses that can typically afford a small commercial real estate investment like a Bellingham office building for sale under $300,000.

Here is the list of 9 Bellingham office buildings for sale under $300,000 as of 1/14/12:

Address: Price: Size: Lot Size:

1326 E Laurel Street $299,000 2,800 SF .2 acres

2833 Meridian Street $295,000 2,500 SF .06 acres

1305 Cornwall Ave $289,000 12,621 SF .02 acres

303 Potter $279,950 1,800 SF .13 acres

960 Harris #B-103 $250,000 1,164 SF 1 acre

909 Squalicum B-101 $241,250 NA NA

1007 Larrabee $225,000 871 SF .09 acres

910 Harris #104 $195,000 NA NA

1015 Railroad #102 $175,000 612 SF NA

Want to know when new Bellingham office buildings under $300,000 come available? Need assistance with your search for an office building for sale or lease? Have general questions about this list or Bellingham office space in general? Contact Neal Swanson at Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. for more information or questions.

Curious which broker will market your Bellingham office building the best? Let me google that for you....just click here:

Click here to google for the best company to market your office building for sale

Did you know you can search commercial real estate in Bellingham for free? Are you a new or existing business that is interested in leasing or purchasing retail, office, or industrial property in Bellingham, WA? You can search commercial properties for sale or lease in Bellingham for free at the following sites:

Costar – www.costar.com

Loopnet – www.loopnet.com

Commercial Brokers Association – www.commercialmls.com

Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. – www.faircommercial.com

Craigslist – www.craigslist.com

For Bellingham office buildings for sale under $300,000 or Whatcom County office buildings for sale or lease, click on any of the links above to begin your free search!

Source: Individually compiled MLS data from CBA - the commercial MLS. CBA, the NWMLS, or any other company did not compile or publish this information.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Seattle ranks as #2 best place to expand for retail quick service restaurants

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:31:30 -0800

Seattle ranks #2 best place to expand for retail qucik service restaurants behind Orlando, FL (#1), but ahead of Portland, OR (#3) and Riverside, CA (#4) in the second-annual Growth 40 report. QSR magazine ranks the markets best poised for quick-service restaurant growth in 2012. Seattle and Portland were the only Northwest cities that made this year's list.

QSR magazine highlights news about quick service restaurants throughout the world. They chose Seeattle due mostly to demographics as can be read in the excerpt below:

There’s plenty to rave about in the Emerald City, where a 13 percent rise in population over the last decade has pushed the area’s overall population near 3.5 million.

Seattle topped the American Express Business Insights’ spending list with 34 percent growth, while claiming runner-up spots in transaction count and average transaction size. It’s a sign that consumer spending remains strong in the Puget Sound region.

Niessen points to the area’s significant rise in Gen X and Gen Y consumers as a particularly positive note and a characteristic favoring quick-service development. Nearly 55 percent of the Seattle area’s residents are younger than 40.

The piece, written by Daniel P. Smith on January 9th, 2012, can be read in full by clicking here.

The complete list of all 40 cities poised for retail growth in quick service sector can be seen here.

What quick service restaurant concepts would you like to see come to Seattle or the Puget Sound?

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Lakeway Shopping Center in Bellingham, WA is getting new retail tenant

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:52:25 -0800

The Lakeway Shopping Center in Bellingham, WA is getting a new retail tenant. Menchie's, the frozen yogurt concept rapidly expanding nationally and internationally, has announced its first Bellingham location at 1070 Lakeway Drive in the Lakeway Shopping Center at the corner of Lakeway Drive and Lincoln St. They will join Little Ceasar's, Crazy Mike's Video, The Market at Lakeway, Radio Shack, Rhodes Cafe, Desert Sun Tanning, and others in the popular Lakeway Shopping Center recently redeveloped by the Franklin Corporation.

On their website, Menchie's describes their stores like this:

We've got a rotating selection of eclectic frozen yogurt flavors and every topping under the sun. From fresh, locally grown fruits to classic rainbow sprinkles and hot fudge, even we can't decide what to mix up first. But that's the best part. We don't decide, you do!

Mix up as many flavors and toppings as your little heart desires. At Menchie's, you pay by weight not by topping so you can have as much or as little of everything you want. It's simple as can be...

There is no opening date announced, but I would guess Spring 2012 is a likely timeframe for the new tenant at the Lakeway Shopping Center in Bellingham, WA. Menchie's currently has 6 locations in the greater Seattle area with Bellingham and Puyallup as their next openings to make a total count of 8 Washington stores.

You can learn more about Menchie's by visiting their website here.

To visit Menchie's Lakeway Shopping Center Facebook page you can click here.

For a video of the Lakeway Shopping Center and its tenants, you can view a video here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Burgers on their way to Carson City

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:29:45 -0800

Burgers are on their way to Carson City, NV! Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., recently acted as tenant representative for Five Guys Burgers & Fries in the lease of 2,200 square feet in the Panda Carson Shopping Center located at 3790 US Hwy 395 South in Carson City, NV. Five Guys joins Trader Joe's, Walmart, Subway, and more in this retail power center just off highway 395.

Neal successfully negotiated the lease terms for Five Guys in Carson City, NV and expects to see them open by Summer 2012.

Five Guys began franchising in 2003 from their original location in Washington D.C. Since then they have over 900 locations with 1,500 more in development. They expect at least one or two more locations in the Reno/Sparks area to open in the next year.

If you have a retail property for lease that you think would be a good fit for Five Guys in the greater Reno area, please contact Neal Swanson at (206) 718-4963.

Click to look at the Five Guys menu, or to learn more about their history you can click here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Pictures of retail in Prague and on the Danube River

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:37:41 -0800

I was recently lucky enough to take a trip over the holidays and wanted to share some of the pictures of retail in Prague and on the Danube River. We started with a few days in Prague before heading to Germany, Austria, and finishing in Budapest, Hungary. It is always fun to see what types of retailers are prevalent in different countries and I thought I would share some of my photos of retail/food service found within these countries:

We used a company called Viking River Cruises. I highly recommend them for your next trip whether that be on the Danube or someplace else they offer amazing river vacations.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Search commercial real estate in Ferndale for free - for sale or lease - retail, industrial, office, multi-family

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:08:44 -0800

Did you know that you can search commercial real estate in Ferndale for free? Are you a new or existing business that is interested in leasing or purchasing retail, office, or industrial property in Ferndale, WA? You can search commercial real estate for sale or lease in Ferndale for free at the following sites:

Costar - www.costar.com

Loopnet - www.loopnet.com

Commercial Brokers Association - www.commercialmls.com

Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. - www.faircommercial.com

Craigslist - www.craigslist.com

Don't forget the two biggest reasons to use a broker when searching for your next office, retail, or industrial property for sale or lease in Fairhaven are:

2. The best location for your particular use is not always "on the market." It could be that the perfect spot for your business is currently available, but only the local brokers are made aware. This is not uncommon and using a broker also insures you'll be the first to know about listings before they hit the websites mentioned above.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Search commercial real estate in Bellingham for free - for sale or lease - search retail, office, industrial, and multi-family

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:57:14 -0800

Did you know you can search commercial real estate in Bellingham for free? Are you a new or existing business that is interested in leasing or purchasing retail, office, or industrial property in Bellingham, WA? You can search commercial real estate for sale or lease in Bellingham for free at the following sites:

Costar - www.costar.com

Loopnet - www.loopnet.com

Commercial Brokers Association - www.commercialmls.com

Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. - www.faircommercial.com

Craigslist - www.craigslist.com

Don't forget the two biggest reasons to use a broker when searching for your next office, retail, or industrial property for sale or lease in Bellingham are:

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Want a burger in Bellingham? Which one?

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:13:49 -0800

Bellingham has a good number of burger options, but there is more on the way. The last few years have seen a tremendous surge in the variety and frequency of burger joints popping up from all over the United States. Umami Burger, Smashburger, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Elevation Burger, Jake's Hamburgers, and many more have been coming onto the quick service restaurant scene faster than just about anyone...other than Chipotle.

In Washington State, we are usually one of the last markets to see what these new and expanding concepts are all about, but many of us have tried them in different markets. My question to all of you is which burger chain would you like to see come to, or further expand in, Bellingham? For me, it is Five Guys Burgers & Fries, but what about you?

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Why businesses in the Puget Sound can't afford cheap rent

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:50:55 -0800

Why do you think businesses in the Puget Sound can't afford cheap rent? As a commercial real estate brokerage specializing in retail properties, the old adage of location being the most important part of your site selection criteria is discussed often. I usually get a call from a start up company or an existing company looking to expand into Bellingham, Burlington, or Seattle, and the conversation usually starts with them saying something like, “well, I would really like to be in shopping center ____ or ____ part of town, but it is too expensive.” Often times, they’ve convinced themselves this is actually the case. The only real justification they typically have for that conclusion is that the particular vacancy they desire is more expensive than other options in that particular market, thus the space is relatively too expensive for their business, not actually too expensive. So why is it that businesses in the Puget Sound can't afford cheap rent?

Do your homework long before you look for space to lease

How do you know if a space is actually too expensive for your business? There are a lot of resources out there to help business owners determine what they should pay for rent (not to mention who their customers are and where they might be coming from, but those are other topics altogether). My favorite resource when I get a call like this is something call the Business Reference Guide, a publication put out by Business Brokerage Press. The book is mostly used in business brokerage, but it gives fantastic statistics nationwide of hundreds of business types and the average percentage of their sales they spend on rent. This provides a great benchmark to start with.

For instance, I had a client looking to open a bakery in Gig Harbor, WA. They showed me the center they wanted to be in and all the improvements they wanted to make to the space. I asked them what their projected sales figures were so that I could help them determine whether or not the space they loved made any financial sense. I then showed them the financial statistics on bakeries which indicated that total occupancy costs should not exceed 10-12% of sales (almost always). After some quick calculations, we determined their likely total occupancy costs (base rent plus NNN’s) represented 25% of projected sales in year 1 at their dream location. My conclusion to them was that they should look elsewhere unless they planned on some aggressive sales increases in year 2. Unfortunately, they ignored my advice, negotiated the lease on their own, and closed their doors a year and a half after opening. The newspaper cited high rent as the main reason for their closure, in this case, $35.00 per square foot plus $7.25 per square foot in NNN costs.

Alternatively, you should make adjustments to your projected sales based on location. One of my clients does between $800-$1,000 per square foot in sales when they go into expensive, high traffic retail locations, but only half of that when they search for a “bargain” in the market. In their case, they literally cannot afford NOT to pay higher rent. I think we get so caught up looking for deals relative to the market we’re in that we forget about the potential upside to paying higher rents. We tell ourselves that since a center is filled with national tenants then there is no way our mom and pop store could afford the rent. That is true sometimes, but more often than not, it is exactly the other way around. That same mom and pop finds the cheap rent behind the back corner and closes their doors two years later because of it.

Next time you find yourself looking for a space to lease, ask yourself what your projected sales would be if you were located in the best possible location in your town, not just the best location you think you can afford. Don’t forget, a great location with great visibility will never replace advertising, but it will sure help. Those are some of the biggest reasons why I think businesses in the Puget Sound can't afford cheap rent.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

The deals brokers dream of.....

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:49:28 -0800

Recently, Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., answered a question on Answers.com posed through WikiAnswers regarding commissions paid to brokers on high value deals. In this case, the question related to deals valued over $10,000,000. While these are somewhat rare, they do occur, but mostly in large cities. Neal referenced a recent deal involving a lease of office space with over 180,000 square feet and a total deal value of over $54,000,000.

Take a look at the answer here. You can ask Neal, or Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., a question at any time through the contact tab on the website for Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. found here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Why did the business cross the road? To survive.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:48:09 -0800

Ever wonder why one side of some busy roads have all the national fast food restaurants and the other side has coffee shops and office supply stores? One of the biggest aspects of site selection for your retail business involves the behavior of your customers. Where do they live? Where do they eat? Where do they work? Who are all those people driving by and where are they going? Before you choose a site, take a step back and consider which side of the road makes the most sense for your business.

Are you a restaurant serving lunch and dinner items? You better make sure you aren’t on the side of the road where people are driving to work. That means they’ll be driving on the other side of the road on their way home, the exact time when you were hoping to get them in your business. Humans are lazy. If they can choose between McDonald’s on the right with an easy right turn into the parking lot or your restaurant across the six lane road during rush hour, what do you think they’ll choose?

If you own a coffee shop, it makes little sense to be on the “going home” side of the road, no matter how much cheaper the space may be. If a bulk of your business occurs in the morning, don’t even bother looking at locations on the “going home” side of the road.

Essentially, don’t give your customers any excuse not to visit your location. You want easy access, great parking, and good traffic flow throughout the center. Most importantly, use demographics to back up your suspicions about who lives where and how they drive to and from work, the store, etc. Look at traffic counts, rooftops, sales figures for other tenants in the center, and the demographics of people living within a 5, 10, and 15 minute drive time, not a 1, 3, and 5 mile radius as that can be misleading. All of this information should be readily available from your commercial real estate broker, but you can also get a lot of fantastic information from The Site To Do Business orRetail Planet. These are two sites that I use almost every day and quickly provide vital data for retail real estate site selection decisions.

As an example, I recently did a study on the viability of a hardware store in Burlington, WA. Using traffic counts, drive times, current market conditions, and various other demographic measuring techniques, I was able to conclude that the location in question is not desirable at this time for a hardware store of the size my client was looking at. All of this cost my client $0. Imagine what rolling the dice and hoping the store would survive would have cost?

So next time you ask why a business chose one side of the street over another, or why a business moved from one side to the other, the answer is almost always to survive.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Office Space in Blaine Leased By Gold Diggers

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:46:30 -0800

Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., recently represented the landlord in a new office space lease in Blaine for 2,500 SF on the third floor of the Loomis Hall Building located at 288 Martin Street in Blaine, WA. The new tenant, Century Mining, will be occupying over half of the third floor of the Loomis Hall Building by signing this new office lease.Century Mining is a Canadian gold producer, and part of the White Tiger Gold Ltd. (http://www.whitetigergold.com) family with strategic land positions in Canada, the United States and Peru.

Want to search office space for lease in Blaine? Click Here.

Want to search office space for sale in Blaine? Click Here.

Want to search offices for lease in Whatcom County? Click Here.

Want to search offices for sale in Whatcom County? Click Here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Office lease in Bellingham - office tenant renews at 1116 Key Street in Bellingham, WA

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:45:02 -0800

Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., recently negotiated the successful renewal of an office lease in Bellingham for suite 210 at 1116 Key Street. The tenant, Tresa Wiggins, MS, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist with an office in Issaquah and Bellingham. You can learn more about Tresa and her practice by visiting her website at www.tresawiggins.com. Fairhaven Commercial, Inc. and Neal Swanson represented the landlord in this office lease renewal transaction in Bellingham.

Want to search office space for lease in Bellingham? Click Here.

Want to search office buildings for sale in Bellingham? Click Here.

Want to search office space for lease in Whatcom County? Click Here.

Want to search offices buildings for sale in Whatcom County? Click Here.

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Paintball shooting into retail space in Bellingham

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:43:31 -0800

Recently Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., represented Go Big Paintball in the relocation of their Bellingham store into a new retail space in Bellingham. ”We were able to secure a terrific location for visibility to many of the county’s residents as well as extremely favorable terms that will allow Go Big the greatest chance at future success,” Neal Swanson mentioned after completing the deal. Here is an excerpt and link to the story printed in the Bellingham Business Journal:

new tenant

by Isaac Bonnell
Filed on 07. Dec, 2011 in Tips

Go Big Paintball moved at the beginning of December from its original location at 4120 Meridian St. to a larger space at 1301 W. Bakerview Road, Suite 105.

With 1,200 square feet, the new location allows the business room to carry more paintball supplies and other items such as airsoft guns and disc golf discs. The space is also located near Fred Meyer and offers better visibility, parking and access to the freeway, said owner Rick O’Connor.

The business has grown quickly since opening in June 2010. Earlier this year, Go Big Paintball purchased the former Semper Fi Paintball field, a 22-acre parcel at 2149 East Badger Road in Lynden, and is in the process of improving the eight themed playing fields and facilities.

The paintball fields, which are open on the weekends, have different themes, from WWII to Black Hawk Down.

“We’re trying to create the ultimate themed paintball field,” O’Connor said. “We’re trying to make it so that people come from all over the region to play here.”

With the success of the retail store and online sales, O’Connor said he is also looking at opening two new stores in 2012, one in the Mount Vernon area and one in Marysville.

Thanks again to Go Big Paintball for allowing us to represent you in your new retail space in Bellingham. We wish you great success in this and all your future locations. Great doing business with you.

Search retail for lease in Bellingham, WA

Search retail property for sale in Bellingham, WA

Search retail for lease in Whatcom County

Search retail property for sale in Whatcom County

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Whatcom Humane Society acquires property in Bellingham for their new headquarters

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:42:25 -0800

The Whatcom Humane Society acquires property in Bellingham, WA. Neal Swanson, of Fairhaven Commercial, Inc., recently represented the Whatcom Humane Society in the purchase of their new headquarters in Bellingham, WA. Neal said following the closing, “after an exhaustive search and lengthy negotiation and due diligence periods, I am very happy and proud to have been a part of what will be a new beginning for such a great organization.”

The Whatcom Humane Society is currently leasing three properties, one by the Bellingham Airport at 3710 Williamson Way, one in Irongate referred to as the Baker Creek Shelter, and a farm facility for horses and other animals that are not the best fit for the in-town facilities. The Whatcom Humane Society has been looking for property in Bellingham for their new headquarters for some time. Neal, who is also a board member of the Whatcom Humane Society, commented further by adding, “the acquisition of these two adjacent parcels allows for the consolidation of the two in-town facilities allowing the organization to cut costs while providing more efficient and higher quality services to the animals overall.” In total, the Whatcom Humane Society has acquired over 13 acres of property at 2172 Division St. off Hannegan, near Builder’s Alliance.

“This new address allows for easy access from mass transit, the county, and Bellingham. We wanted a location that was not only accessible from I-5, Bellingham, and the county, but one that would be approved for the rather unique use of the shelter,” said Neal, adding “due to zoning, the site required cooperation with the City of Bellingham, including a director’s interpretation.” Neal added that the City of Bellingham was “extremely cooperative, helpful, professional, and a joy to work with throughout the whole process.” ”The City was invaluable and we definitely could not have accomplished these goals without their assistance.”

The property consists of roughly 13.3 acres, 9 of which are vacant, while the other 3.3 currently have two industrial buildings that will provide the foundation for the future shelter slated to open in late 2012. ”The additional 9 acres creates an area that the animals of the Whatcom Humane Society have never had before, allowing them to get exercise in a safe, fenced field where they get to be dogs, while at the same time providing options for future generations of the shelter.” Neal noted, “we wouldn’t have been as satisfied getting just one parcel or the other, we really needed to acquire both in order to accomplish the goals we have put in place for the future of this organization. There were many options available during our search, but this proved to be the only spot that met all of the unique needs of the shelter while at the same time falling under the proper zoning with the right neighbors, access, donor and board approval.”

For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Secret to your Whatcom County business' retail success? Dimensions!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:39:55 -0800

What is one of the biggest secrets to your Whatcom County business' retail success? There are all sorts of ratios, calculations, theories, and 1000′s of books on how your business can succeed as a retailer. It seem as there are general rules for all types of retail that cannot be broken, yet it seems we constantly hear success stories about retailers doing the opposite of these strict rules of retailing. For instance, in 2005, a yogurt retailer opened in West Hollywood, CA. While there is a large population base there to support new retail concepts, there is plenty of competition, very few “A” locations, and high asking rates in locations considered “good” for retailers. The yogurt retailer was Pinkberry, and I encourage you to visit google maps and use their street view to look at the location of their first store.

Not exactly ideal, is it? It isn’t on a great corner, neighbored by other national retailers, or part of a shopping mall with guaranteed foot traffic. When they opened this first location, they not only had lines around the block for the tasty frozen yogurt, they’ve since opened about 150 locations nationally and internationally. This is just one of the countless stories about retailers breaking traditional rules and still experiencing unbelievable success.

The reason I tell you this is not to discount the “rule” I’m about to share with you, but rather to preface the rule by explaining that in retail, and business, there are no rules. There are good guidelines to follow and legal issues to be aware of, but if you have a good enough product (in this case yogurt), your location is not nearly as important as most people think.

Here is the catch: very, very, very few retailers have a good enough, innovative enough, or cheap enough product to survive a bad location, or any of the mythical “rules” of retailing. The problem is that 99% of retailers, restauranteurs, and businessmen all think they have that magic product that renders location somewhat pointless. There is a reason why the percentages are so high for business failures, and unfortunately it has a lot to do with false confidence about your product, food, service, or whatever makes you think you can cut corners on location, staffing, etc.

So what is the rule you ask? It is 3:1. The depth of a retail location should never be more than three times the width of the front of the store on the side facing the street. There is something that psychologically prevents shoppers from walking “too far” into the back of the store. We’ve all felt it; that feeling of walking to the back of a long, narrow store only to feel trapped by the salesperson and realize it will seemingly take us two days to walk all the way back to the exit so maybe we should just hand over our credit card now. Likewise, window shopping is difficult when you can’t even see the whole store because it appears to be an endless closet from those walking by on the street. This rule only applies to traditional retailers like in a mall, on Main St., or your average retail strip center. Stand alone stores like pharmacies or hardware stores operate on a completely different set of retail “rules” that are just waiting to be broker by the next big box version of Pinkberry. Just remember, next time you’re out looking for space or shopping on a busy Saturday, take a moment to note the dimensions of the busy retailers and the dimensions of the slow retailers….you just may be surprised.

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For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.

Is your Whatcom County business a victim of Felene's failure?

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:37:27 -0800

Don't let your Whatcom County business be a victim of Felene's failure!

I read an interesting article that I wanted to share with those of you who own their own business in Whatcom County. I pulled it from a website named Plain Vanilla Shell (this is a term used in retailing to define the condition of a space when it is delivered to a new tenant, prior to any improvements or build out the retailer may do on their own or through a tenant improvement allowance). You can check out the website here or the actual article from the website here.

To summarize, it is discussing the bankruptcy of Filene’s Basement. It doesn’t give specific reasons about management or purchasing, but it does discuss a much bigger problem that ruins businesses whether small or large, and especially those businesses with a long history of relative success. Here is an excerpt:

So what happened? There will be plenty of post mortems as to the shortcomings of the management and how they did this and didn’t do that. Let’s not look at it from a retailer’s point of view. Instead let’s look at it from the customer’s point of view. The real lesson to learn was that they were no longer relevant in today’s marketplace.

What their founders did to make these stores great includes a sense of adventure, a spirit, not being afraid to do something different and having the belief in their convictions to dare enough to do that different thing. Many people will write that the reason why these stores died was because they owned the market in tailored clothing. Yes, that is true, but people are not wearing suits and tailored clothing the way they once did. Instead of trying to develop new markets, they waited for their market to return.

Are you waiting for your market to return or are you creating a new market? I had a discussion with an older fellow who said “America is going to pot – we don’t make anything anymore.” My response to him is “your grandchildren will be working in fields that haven’t even been created yet.” Whoever thought that people would be making a living from EBay or Google or a start-up company like Apple? Don’t stop the world because you want to get off, get into the world because you want to go for the ride of your life.

You can read the rest of the article here, but you probably get the point by now. The line that stuck out to me had to do with the failure of Filene’s Basement and their parent company, Syms, which read, because neither brand means or represents anything in the mind of today’s shopper. The question I would ask you, the reader/business owner, is does your business have a brand that means or represents anything in the mind of today’s shopper? If not, maybe a change is in order.

Special thanks to: Article provided by Rick Segel, a prolific speaker and author of thirteen books on retailing, including the best selling Retail Business Kit for Dummies which has sold over 100,00 copies and a 2010 inductee into the Retailing Hall of Fame.. He may be reached at Rick Segel & Associates. www.ricksegel.com

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For more articles from Neal Swanson, check out his Puget Sound Commercial Real Estate Blog.