Article submitted by Carmen R. Austin, MBA, CCIM, Associate Broker and Retail Specialist for Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate, LLC

Written by Matthew Rothstein for Bisnow East Coast | January 13, 2019Sears and Amazon are each symbols of the changing retail market in the past decade, and their divergent stories might become even more intertwined. Amazon is investigating vacated Sears locations to convert into Whole Foods Markets, Yahoo Finance reports. Amazon recently announced its intention to carry out a nationwide expansion of the grocery store chain it acquired for $13B in 2017.

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Carmen R. Austin, MBA, CCIM has been a practicing commercial real estate broker since 2001. She is a graduate of the Louisiana State University (LSU) E.J Ourso College of Business and the LSU Flores Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Program with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance. Her experience includes past employment as Regional Director of Leasing at Commercial Properties Realty Trust, the for-profit arm of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.  Carmen is a graduate of the Jay W. Levine Leadership Development Academy, Class of 2011, and served as the 2010 President of the Louisiana CCIM Chapter.  She currently serves on the National CCIM Institute Board of Directors and the CCIM Institute Education Foundation Board of Directors.

Carmen’s affiliations include Louisiana REALTORSGreater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors Commercial Investment Division, International Council of Shopping CentersCommercial Real Estate WomenCertified Commercial Investment Member Institute, National Association of REALTORS, and Urban Land Institute. She is also an active volunteer on the Board of Directors for the Baton Rouge Gallery, LSU MBA Alumni Association, Junior Achievement of Baton Rouge, and the Junior League of Baton Rouge

Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate, LLC is a member of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce (BRAC); the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce; the Baton Rouge Better Business Bureau; the Louisiana Commercial Data Base (LACDB); and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Several agents, on an individual basis, are members of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR), the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM); the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR); and the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS® Commercial Investment Division (CID).