New Research

Fact-Finding Study on Real Estate Strategies of Commercial Outlets 2018
Findings from questionnaires and interviews with commercial operators

Commercial facilities are a major type of real estate, along with offices, with certain characteristics in the real estate strategies of stores (i.e. how to utilize store real estate) carried out by commercial operators (hereinafter referred to as "Operators"). Real estate strategies are wide-ranging, from relocating and renovating to closing own store and subleasing to an external tenant, and span up to several decades from the opening of the store to closure. They are also implemented frequently. However, there have hardly been any quantitative and qualitative analyses on these matters.

To unveil their reality, Xymax Real Estate Institute (hereinafter referred to as "Xymax REI") conducted the "Fact-Finding Study on Real Estate Strategies of Commercial Outlets 2018" in partnership with the laboratory of Professor Yukio Komatsu of the Department of Architecture at Waseda University,*1 targeting commercial operators that operate or control multiple outlets.*2 This report has summarized the details, changes, and issues of Operators' real estate strategies. The results of a survey on the management of store information, which forms the basis of real estate strategies, is summarized in the "Fact-Finding Study on Information Management of Commercial Outlets 2018,"*3 published by Xymax REI on the same day.

This report is a sequel to the "Fact-Finding Study on the Opening & Closing of Commercial Outlets 2017,"*4 published last year. We hope this study will assist in the efficient formulation of stores' real estate strategies.

  1. *1Laboratory of Professor Yukio Komatsu, Department of Architecture, Waseda University: http://www.waseda.jp/sem-ykom/
  2. *2Survey targets: Retailers, restaurant operators, entertainment providers, and service providers aimed at personal consumption with net sales of 3 billion yen or more for the latest fiscal year surveyed by Tokyo Shoko Research (an overview of the survey is provided at the end of the report).
  3. *3https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/release/181129_2.html
  4. *4https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/release/170929.html
Key Findings
    • In a comparison of today's store opening policies with those of three years ago, the percentage of Operators with a policy of aggressively opening stores to increase the number of outlets has decreased, indicating that Operators have become more cautious about store openings.
    • The largest factor for the change in store opening policies was shortage of labor. Interviews with Operators suggest that not only the shortage but also a drop in the retention rate was a big issue.
    • The most common response to unprofitable stores was closing the store, with more Operators placing importance in this policy than three years ago.
    • For store renovations, more Operators intend to prioritize stores with strong sales than unprofitable stores.
    • The top three real estate strategies implemented by Operators over the last three years were "new store opening," "renovation of stores with strong sales," and "closing of unprofitable stores."
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