Faith Hope Consolo - May: The most wonderful time of the year

The song may refer to the Christmas season as the most wonderful time of the year, but for those of us in the retail real estate business, make no mistake - it's May, when the International Council of Shopping Centers holds its annual RECon at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Scheduled this year for May 22 through 25, it's the largest gathering of retail real estate professionals in the world, and this year will see a lot of activity for the industry overall and us New Yorkers in particular. Most exciting on a local level is that NYCREW, the New York chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women Network, will have its first booth ever at RECon, partnering with ICSC's Women's Special Interest Group program. I'll be joined by most of NYcrew's leadership, including 2011 president Karen Dome, Tracey Daniels, Theresa Garelli and others, to offer information about our organization, talk about all the business being done in New York, discuss our work with the Women's SIG program - and do some business ourselves. We'll be located at C2126 in the Central Hall, so please stop by or contact my office for a meeting. We're thrilled to be sharing this booth with the Women's Special Interest Group program, which I've chaired from its beginning and will celebrate its first anniversary at RECon with a extraordinary event: "A 'View' From the Top: A Women's SIG Spectacular" on Sunday, May 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Las Vegas Hilton. Rather than our traditional roundtables, we'll kick off with a special meet-and-greet reception, followed by an industry-centric version of the Emmy-winning talk show, "The View." I'll channel my inner Barbara Walters as moderator, joined by an all-star panel of retail and real estate leaders: Holly Cohen, senior vice president of real estate, planning and construction of J. Crew Group; Terri Simard, vice president of law for Target Corp.; Renée West, president and COO of Excalibur and Luxor Hotel and Casino; and Elaine Wynn, a director of Wynn Resorts. All of us involved with the SIG initiative are thrilled to have these amazing women giving of their time and expertise, and we're expecting a record attendance for what will certainly be a frank, funny and informative discussion of all topics retail, real estate, and leadership-related. You must be a RECon registrant to attend - and you must register separately for this very special Special Interest Group. To register for the conference and to RSVP for the SIG, visit www.icsc.org/2011SC. We'll have a lot of good news to discuss at both events about New York's activity, as business remains strong. As I write this, it's too early to report April sales, which will be heavily influenced by the Easter shift to much later in the month than in 2010. But I expect sales to be quite strong. Consumer confidence, after a dip in March, rose again in April, says the Conference Board, as inflation fears eased, improving the short-term outlook. Employment continues to rise in most metropolitan areas, says the U.S. Department of Labor, making shoppers a bit more comfortable with some discretionary spending. And the local leasing story is a great one. Bond No. 9 will open a huge showroom and corporate events space at 42 Bond St., blocks from its flagship at, yes, 9 Bond St. Tess Giberson now showcases her collection at 97 Crosby St. Be ready to greet a number of bigger boxes: Staples at 442 Fifth Ave. and CB2 (Crate & Barrel's little brother) at 979 Third Ave. Athleta, Gap's answer to Lululemon, will come to 216 Columbus Ave. LA consignment shop Decadestwo returns for another popup for a few days this month at 79 Greene St. Also popping up, through the end of this month, is Sprout, offering biodegradable timepieces at 423 West Broadway. At press time, Mango was scheduled for a May 1 grand opening at 7 West 34th St. Piero Guidi is coming from Urbino, Italty to 430 West Broadway. Céline is under construction at 870 Madison Ave. Xoos' French shirts have come to 7 Lispenard St., while rival menswear designer Jay Kos will arrive at 293 Mott St. Denmark's Henrik Vibskov's first U.S. boutique is at 456 Broome St. The latest published reports say that Nordstrom is looking at the Hudson Yards site for its first full-price store here. Ted Muehling reportedly is moving his jewelry and housewares to 57 Walker St. Have a summertime nosh at Le Cremeria, soon to be selling gelato at 178 Mulberry St. In Brooklyn, Steven Alan is doubling its space by adding its next-door neighbor 347 Atlantic Ave., and Sahadi, the home for Middle Eastern foods for decades, is expanding to 191 Atlantic Avenue. On a more personal note, I'll be spending part of Wednesday, May 11 at the Sub-Zero Showroom (150 East 58th St.) preparing appetizers and discussing retail real estate for "What's Cooking in Real Estate?" a new television program created and produced by JudyNetworks and LiveOpenHouse TV. Also cooking on the program, hosted by Judy Sahagian of Judy Networks, will be restaurant and hospitality architect Glen Coben and award-winning interior designer Gail Green. We'll all be cooking and talking up a storm from noon to 2 p.m., with the show airing Thursday, May 19th at 7 p.m. on LOH.tv. To be a part of the studio audience, register online at [email protected] or at the studio on the day of the taping between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. A networking lunch will follow. And yes, I can and do cook! Really! So forget the Christmas tune, and start singing about all the deals and business to be had at RECon. See you in Vegas! Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Group, New York, N.Y.