Signs of the times will be inescapable in Las Vegas next week, when the International Council of Shopping Centers raises the curtain on the 2009 edition of RECon. After astounding growth brought attendance to 50,000 two years ago, ICSC is expecting a considerably smaller crowd of 30,000 during this year\u2019s show, which runs from Sunday through Wednesday. Smaller staffs, fewer exhibitors and even the conspicuous absence of a few giants will also mark the show.Yet some senior executives and veterans of the Las Vegas show suggest that the re-sizing from gigantic to merely very big may prove an advantage. \u201cThe people who attend will be very surprised by the tenor of the show,\u201d predicted Edens & Avant CEO Terry Brown. \u201cExpectations are low, and I think the expectations will be exceeded by quite a bit.\u201dThis year\u2019s attendees will undoubtedly encounter a trimmer show. An ICSC spokesperson said Monday that the organization is projecting that 30,000 will attend at some point between next Sunday and Wednesday, a significant falloff from 2007, when attendance hit 50,000 after several years of astounding growth. Though the crowd will fall short of the mid-decade\u2019s boom years, some veterans suggest putting the reduced attendance in historical context. \u201cI was there in the late \u201980s, when you could shoot a cannon down the hall without hitting anybody,\u201d recalled Pat Duffy, director of Colliers International\u2019s retail services group. \u201cFifteen years ago, if 15,000 or 20,000 people showed up, it was a pretty good show.\u201dExhibitors are also responding to leaner times by cutting back on the size of their staffs. Edens & Avant\u2019s Las Vegas team will hit 60 percent the size it was in recent years, and those flying the flag will be senior executives, Brown reported. Don Casto, a partner in Columbus-based development firm Casto, said last week that his company is taking the same amount of space as usual but sending 20 percent fewer people to RECon. Those staying behind will include some of the firm\u2019s construction and finance people.Despite smaller attendance, executives say that their appointment calendars for the convention are as full as they were during the recent peak years. Still to be seen, however, is the nature of those meetings. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the retailers are going to be there,\u201d said Casto, a 30-year veteran of the convention. \u201cIt isn\u2019t clear from this what they want to talk about.\u201d He speculated that his firm\u2019s meetings will be less about dealmaking than about renewing old ties, making new acquaintances and restarting deals that have been on hold. Nevertheless, Casto views the company\u2019s presence at the show as critical: \u201cThe last thing you want is to cut back on getting your space filled, and that\u2019s what (RECon) is all about.\u201dRetailers will find somewhat fewer owners, service firms and financiers to talk to. About 1,000 exhibitors signed up, a decline of about 200 from last year, according to the ICSC spokesperson. It is no secret that some industry giants will be conspicuously absent from the leasing floor. Simon Properties Group Inc., for example, is vacating its prime position in the convention center\u2019s central hall in favor of space at Caesars Palace. A spokesperson for the nation\u2019s largest retail REIT confirmed on Monday that it is taking space at the famed Las Vegas Strip resort, adding that the company had not publicly discussed its reasons for the switch.Brown reported that other RECon stalwarts are only too happy to take advantage of the defections. Simon\u2019s absence set in motion a series of moves that is allowing Edens & Avant to leave its longtime space in the north hall for what it considers a better-traveled location in the central hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Signs of the times will be inescapable in Las Vegas next week, when the International Council of Shopping Centers raises the curtain on the 2009 edition of RECon. After astounding growth brought attendance to 50,000 two years ago, ICSC is expecting a considerably smaller crowd of 30,000 during this year\u2019s show, which runs from Sunday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003972139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n