During the worst of the pandemic, many digitally native brands said they might never open a physical store again. Now, many have changed their tunes. Gabrielle Licht specializes in leasing to DTC brands and emerging concepts at Macerich, owner of Class A retail and mixed-use destinations across the U.S. She now has regular conversations with digital brands with ambitious store growth plans. Rebecca Fitts, Director of Real Estate at Leap, is working with a growing roster of digital brands opening physical stores. Leap is a retail platform for brands like A Pea in the Pod, Mack Weldon and Rent the Runway. With a fresh $50 million in Series B financing, Leap plans to add 150 new stores in 2022.

 

James Cook is the director of retail research in the Americas for JLL. 

 

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Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.