Three decades after its founding, Woodbury, N.Y.-based Schuckman Realty Inc., one of the Metro New York's leading retail real estate brokerage firms, is thriving by adapting to changing times.
Founded in 1979 by its president, Stanley Schuckman, the firm has over three decades grown its staff and its scope. Today, the firm's seven brokers are landing new exclusive listings and taking a proactive approach to filling their clients' spaces.
"We are getting a new exclusive literally every other week to handle a new property, said Schuckman's son, Kenneth, who joined the firm eight years ago at the age of 25 and now is directing much of the change. "We are turning down properties to keep the quality of the listings on a high level."
The younger Schuckman, now 34, said that the recessionary economy has caused the firm to turn to old-school tactics to fill space. That means canvassing potential tenants. "We have developed a database of 10,000 tenants based in the metro New York market," he said. "Our marketing campaigns have generated activity on properties that would be struggling if marketing was just dependent on sign calls."
Kenneth Schuckman cites the Independence Plaza shopping center in Selden as an example of the firm's successful efforts. The 265,000 s/f strip center is owned by Sivan Properties and its tenants include King Kullen, Home Depot, Bath & Body Works, GNC, Blockbuster Video, Old Navy and Jennifer Leather. "We have kept the center 100% leased in the downturn and now we have five deals in the center that are at various stages of lease negotiations," Schuckman said.
Moreover, anticipating a bottoming of the market, Schuckman Realty has hired brokers who specialize in investment sales. "I want to position us to be at the forefront , offering all services so we can capitalize on the bottoming which we anticipate will show itself in the coming year," Kenneth Schuckman said. "We watch the trends and act accordingly."
And while the firm has kept up with the times, the principles established by Stanley Schuckman -dealing with sophistication, integrity and persistence-haven't changed.
Schuckman Realty's original orientation was big box development and shopping center origination. Over 30 years the firm initiated the development of 45 shopping centers and hundreds of big box stores spread across the Metro New York landscape totaling about 15 million s/f of space. Today, many of these projects are retail landmarks.
Schuckman's early success was the result of a proficiency in market research and shopping center planning, coupled with an ability to see site opportunities that weren't obvious to other seasoned shopping center professionals, Stanley Schuckman said. "I identified site after site that eventually was transformed into either a free standing big box store or a shopping center." Schuckman's successes extended across Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Connecticut.
Schuckman Realty is responsible for introducing many major big box retailers to the Metro-New York market, among them: Channel Home Centers, Caldor Department Stores to Long Island, and, more recently, Lowe's Home Centers.
The firm's client list is a veritable who's who of regional and national retailers, including Pathmark Supermarkets, A&P, King Kullen, Foodtown, Stop and Shop, Barnes and Noble, Borders Books, Office Max, Staples, Home Depot, Fortunoff, Macy's, Rickel Home Centers, Toys 'R' Us, Child World, Sterns Department Stores, Pergament Home Centers, Sports Authority, Costco, BJ's Wholesale Club, Marshall's and more.
It was with another chain, Cold Stone Creamery, that the younger Schuckman distinguished himself early on. He, along with the firm's Ari Malul, completed 125 transactions as Cold Stone rolled out throughout the region. Since then, he has secured himself as a preferred broker for CVS Pharmacy and brokers deals on a continuous basis with many of Long Island and Metro New York's most well known and sought after tenants.
"Throughout our 30 years, Schuckman Realty Inc. has maintained a reputation of delivering results with a deal sheet that we believe is unmatched in terms of big box and shopping center origination," Stanley Schuckman said. "We hope to continue our growth and maintain our reputation for unparalleled results." Tags: