Founded in 1887, Kamehameha Schools’ endowment supports the education of 48,000 learners of Hawaiian ancestry. The KS estate is comprised of more than 363,000 acres of land in Hawaii and a commercial real estate portfolio of 275 assets including some of the state’s largest shopping centers, hotels, resorts, office and industrial properties. Valued at over $10 billion, KS is one of the ten largest educational endowments in the country.

We’re proud and humbled to assist KS in their mission to support the children of Hawaii.

We’re in our ninth year servicing many of the best real estate and retail companies in the industry— large and small, public and private.  We help teams develop and execute on corporate strategy with high quality and value in mind.

Summer of Retail

We can’t get enough of retail and this summer we took to the streets to find new and innovative concepts. In New York we visited the cult beauty favorite Glossier along with Everlane, M. Gemi, Outdoor Voices and STORY.

In Greenville, SC we saw one of the first domestic Lidl locations one week after opening. They were still working out the kinks and lost power on our first visit, but repaid us with chocolate covered acai berries.

We also took a trip to Walmart’s Innovation Store in Lake Nona, FL where we saw new technology, in-store salons and a grocery selection to rival a full line grocer.

Read more about our summer retail visits (including my best attempt at humor).

In the News…

Get ready – Amazon is making their first foray into high fashion as it takes on the high street with its new brand Find.

We all know the future is mobile and some retailers are doing a better job than others. Fast-fashion retailer ASOS gets 58% of sales from mobile. Here’s how they make it work.

Congratulations to Woody Rayburn on his promotion to Vice President of Real Estate Assets at Publix. WIth well over 300 owned locations, you’ve got your hands full!

LISTEN UP: We love podcasts. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Loose Threads, you should check it out. Another absolute favorite is Masters of Scale from Reid Hoffman (of Paypal and LinkedIn fame).

MoviePass has launched unlimited service for $9.95 a month. You can see one movie a day at any theatre that accepts debit card payments, the only catch is 3D and Imax films are off limits, oh, and they’re going to sell your data. Regal, AMC, Movieco, you name it, they’re in.

Maybe I’m late to the party on this, but why are we just now seeing Cupcake ATMs? There’s no better way to dispense a late night treat while reducing day-old bakery waste. Yum.

Rachel Elias Wein

Rachel Elias Wein founded WeinPlus, a strategy and management consultancy focused exclusively on retail and real estate organizations, in 2008. A consultant to Fortune 500 companies and an experienced development executive, Ms. Wein serves as the principal strategic advisor for industry-leading public and private real estate owners, a top-tier grocery retailer, as well as several boutique real estate firms nationwide.

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