Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles to Help You This Week

June 19th, 2017

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles and the submissions of others (with credit to you if I post them). I wish you a terrific week!

Amazon, Whole Foods, and the Future of the (Old) New Economy"I heard the news today, oh boy — Amazon is buying Whole Foods Market in a deal worth nearly $14 billion. The combination of these iconic companies, both of which have come of age in the last two decades, raises obvious questions. Does the transaction reflect how hard it’s been for Whole Foods to keep Wall Street satisfied with its growth and profits? (It does.) Does the deal underscore just how expansive a vision Jeff Bezos has for Amazon, his dream of it becoming the “everything store”? (No doubt.)." www.hbr.com

10 years later, Zell explains the perfect timing of his Equity Office sale"In his new memoir, "Am I Being Too Subtle?," the anything-but-subtle maverick, now 75, confesses: He sold Equity Office Properties in 2007 because Blackstone Group simply made an offer he couldn't refuse. The $39 billion bid was 25 percent above the public REIT's market cap and nearly double the firm's year-earlier value.

"To this day, people credit me with calling the top of the market when I sold Equity Office," he writes. "The reality is, I wasn't trying to. While the market was frothy, I wasn't selling to get out of the office market. I had simply received a Godfather offer." www.chicagobusiness.com

Pivoting Brands: The “Tech” Label and Why Space Still Matters"As Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room,” and from the outside looking in I would argue that consumers see finance as finance and tech as tech.

Since these companies are self-selecting a label other than what most would describe them by, it creates a gap in understanding and ability for consumers to speak as true advocates of the products and services that these companies deliver on. There is a misalignment between how these organizations view themselves internally versus how their consumer base would articulate what they do. Organizations rely on their mission and value proposition to communicate their business focus, so why are these organizations making this shift and how can they help consumers understand what they are really selling?" www.gensleron.com[tweet_box design="box_10" float="none"]Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room #cre[/tweet_box]

How Amazon Just Changed The $800 Billion Supermarket World“The greatest innovation in the history of grocery was of course mocked by the industry back in 1916. Clarence Saunders opened a store with a silly name that let customers walk the aisles and pick out the products for themselves. The day before grocery shopping was done by an attendant who picked out your products as the customer waited patiently at the counter. Very little of what that first Piggly Wiggly customer experienced 101 years ago has changed.  Until ecommerce came along and rocked the core of the supermarket revenue model. It shifted the labor cost back to the store. Turning back the clock, the chain must employ labor to pick products off the shelf instead of the customer doing the work for them. Those dollars are more significant in grocery versus fashion or electronics because the average customer buys 12-20 products that are low margin and heavy.” www.forbes.com

How To Get Toxic People Out Of Your Life"Old friends can suck your mojo away, and so can family members. You might think "I am stuck with my family members!" but you have more control over your interactions with relatives than you might think.

You can put off get-togethers with people who suck your energy away, no matter how long you've known them or how you and they are related. You owe it to yourself to create appropriate boundaries, even with people you've known your whole life." www.forbes.com

[tweet_box design="box_10" float="none"]You can put off get-togethers with people who suck your energy away, no matter how long you've known them or how you and they are related[/tweet_box]

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!Ken