Article submitted by Bob Kirby, Associate Broker for Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate
Written by Rob Smith | July 13, 018
Sam’s Club plans to spend the coming months converting closed stores into distribution centers to fill online shopping orders, joining other national retailers in scrambling to grab up warehouse, industrial or even former big box store properties in response to the boom in e-commerce.
In another sign of a rapidly changing retail landscape, the rush to seize these properties is prompting developers to revitalize industrial areas across the country. Retailers are seeking to cut delivery times and transportation costs, raise their e-commerce capabilities and compete with a changing landscape driven by Amazon, which operates more than 300 distribution and delivery centers that process shipments from other parts of the country to get individual packages to the homes of shoppers.
Sam’s Club, a subsidiary of Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer Walmart Inc., opened its first of as many as a dozen e-commerce fulfillment centers in Memphis, TN, after announcing it would convert some of the 63 stores it closed earlier this year. It said other regions under consideration include Texas, Central Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, Southern California, the Chicago area and the Northeast.
Bob Kirby, a commercial leasing and sales consultant with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate, has over 37 years of sales and management experience. Licensed in Louisiana and Mississippi, Bob is a member of the Mississippi Commercial Association of REALTORS® (MCAR); the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS® Commercial Investment Division (CID); a candidate member of the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM); and an affiliate member of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and NAR Commercial.
Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate 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).
