As the retail real estate environment continues to benefit from demand that is outstripping supply, veteran brokers who started their own tenant representation and agency leasing companies over the past few years are seeing their decisions pay off.

Executives with these boutiques agree that the biggest differentiator between their shops and a larger brokerage that has offices across the country is the ability to develop close relationships with clients and to tailor solutions to their needs. Often such brokerages concentrate on specific regions but have the expertise and the connections with other firms to provide representation on a national scale, as well.

Six principals launched Axiom Retail Advisors in early 2022 to create their own culture and gain more discretion over the types of projects and clients they represented. The boutique focuses heavily on Southern California, but its reach extends to several Western states. It also belongs to a network of retail boutique brokerages that enables it do deals nationwide, said principal Terry Bortnick.

“All of us were very high producers, and we’ve got a perfect combination of tenant and landlord representation,” added Bortnick, who previously had started another boutique brokerage, Argent Retail Advisors, and who also has worked for Pan Pacific Properties and Reza Investment Group. “We can be choosier as to the types of assignments we want to take, which allows us to concentrate more deeply on deals and service clients at a much higher level. I personally like going deep in the weeds on deals.”

Being selective also allows the firm to identify more appealing projects and to better focus on profitability. One specialty Bortnick likes is bringing centers to full occupancy. “We’ve always prided ourselves as being a firm that could get a project fully leased,” he said. “As a smaller company, we can be more nimble and make decisions that have more impact.”

Beyond the Deal

On the opposite coast, former Cushman & Wakefield team members Brandon Singer and Michael Cody founded Retail by MONA — MONA is an acronym for Making Of a New Age – aiming to drive a retail renaissance in New York City. Launched in September 2020 during the height of the pandemic and lockdowns, the partners faced a dormant environment that showed scant promise of fully rebounding, Singer acknowledged. But the duo saw little choice but to plow ahead. “There were a lot of people leaving New York, and it couldn’t have gotten much worse,” he stated. “But we doubled down on the city with the simple thesis that we really had nothing to lose. If the market didn’t come back, we’d just have to find something else to do.”

Six to 12 months later, business started picking back up. The brokerage now anticipates revenue to triple or quadruple this year, much as it did in 2023. Retail by MONA now lists about 25 brokers and five support staff, Singer said.

Part of its success stems from its structure, he said. Instead of brokers competing against one another — as can happen at large brokerage houses, Singer said — Retail by MONA’s teams focus on industry lines like food-and-beverage, luxury and high street. “Our clients have been very happy with it,” Singer declared. “Too often, the larger firms care more about getting a deal done versus the client, so we’ve tried to take a different approach.”

Among other deals, Retail by MONA earlier this year represented the owner of the Chrysler Building in a lease of 2,000 square feet on the ground floor to WatchHouse, a London-based coffee roaster. It’s expected to open this fall. Retail by MONA also represented French leather goods brand Maison Goyard in a 10-year deal to move to 9,000 square feet on Madison Avenue, a half block from its current location on 63rd Street.

Tailored Approach

Retail by Mona focuses primarily on New York but also works with local brokerages in other cities to represent expanding retailers. It has about 25 such deals in the works, Singer said. Beta, founded in early 2018 by former CBRE broker Richard Rizika, similarly focuses on local markets while providing brands with national representation. The firm has four offices in Southern California, but in March, DXL Big + Tall clothing hired Beta to represent it nationally.

In a press release announcing the assignment, a DXL executive noted that the venture would ensure the brand secures locations that leverage customer access. That falls in line with Rizika’s philosophy. “We’re a niche player who figures out what real estate setting is best suited and aligns with a client’s particular brand,” Rizika said. “Maybe it’s a shopping center or maybe it’s more of an industrial neighborhood. Whatever it is, we try to find a solution and to maximize the benefit of controlling that real estate, whether that’s through a lease or acquisition.”

While agency leasing includes the representation of larger landlords, boutiques often see their roles as de facto asset managers for smaller shopping center owners who may need help envisioning a property’s potential, explained Bortnick. That ability was a key behind his decision to start Axiom.

“Not all shopping centers are owned by big Wall Street firms,” he said. “A lot are owned by families or smaller companies, and we can really make a difference by bringing in the right tenants at the right rents under the right deal structure. There are a lot of people that are looking for asset management type of guidance, not someone that can just make a deal.”