When two are greater than one
By: J. David Chapman/June 21, 2018
I returned from a month in Europe to find the news that the 42nd Street Candy Co. was going to close. The store where I had shopped for years, at NW 42nd Street and N. Western Avenue, had been owned and operated by entrepreneur Teresa Wall for 18 of their 39 years of existence. Not many small businesses survive 39 years, and I was saddened to learn that this icon might fall victim to a new retail paradigm.
It appears that this tragedy will have a happy ending. You might know by now that Bob Benham, owner of Balliets, reached out to Wall with a creative solution that would enable her to continue her passion. Benham’s plan, which was ultimately accepted by Wall, has 42nd Street Candy Co. co-locating with Balliets at 5801 NW Grand Boulevard in Oklahoma City. This iconic candy store will be occupying part of the first floor of the two-story Balliets store.
These two creative entrepreneurs are practicing what I have been predicting could happen in the retail sector. We have seen a movement in the office space industry toward coworking, and several are operating right here in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. I have been predicting we would see small retailers practice a modified coworking scheme to reduce expenses, create energy, and enhance the customer experience.
We continuously insist that retailers must create a unique experience to coax customers from the online marketplace and back into brick-and-mortar locations. Seems to me that Benham and Wall are doing just that. By co-locating two iconic local brands and the energy of two talented business professionals, they should create a new buzz and a new customer experience, while reducing expenses for each.
In the retail real estate business, this is the consummate example of tenant mix. The businesses that co-locate must gain synergy. My guess is there are many small entrepreneurial businesspeople watching these two iconic small businesses to see if the co-location will increase sales and decrease expenses. If so, retail landlords may be altering leases to accommodate a new trend in the industry as businesses look to co-locate with others to gain new synergy. I, for one, will be rooting for both businesses and applaud their creativity.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).