Tenant Case Studies
Retailers and other tenants are facing the evolution of retail, including their use of real estate, head on. Mid-America has represented thousands of local, regional and national tenants since our inception. In fact, that’s what we were born to do. Here are a couple examples of how we’re helping tenants thrive.
Making the Market for Chipotle in the Midwest
For almost as long as Chipotle Mexican Grill has been around — which is more than a generation — Mid-America has been helping the fast-casual restaurant operator make the market in the Midwest.
We’ve been working with the company in the Chicago area since 1999, in Wisconsin since 2002 and, more recently, in Michigan. All told, we’ve helped Chipotle open more than 200 locations, with about three dozen more currently on the way in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Coming out of the pandemic, Chipotle has been expanding into more smaller markets, and driving accelerated use of its online app for mobile orders and to stay in closer touch with customers. New Chipotle outlets are typically being constructed with drive-through pick-up lanes for digital orders.
“Mid-America understands our business,” says Andrea Weisberg with Chipotle. “They’re not just a service provider but a partner who looks out for our interests every day as they help us strategize and execute our market plan by introducing new markets and negotiating new leases and relocations. Their market knowledge and insight is invaluable.”
Steve Frishman in Mid-America’s Chicago office has represented Chipotle in the opening of more restaurants than any other individual broker in the U.S. “It’s a badge of honor that I and the rest of the team at Mid-America wear proudly,” he says.
Also supporting Chipotle are Adam Goodman and Tony Schmitt (Michigan) and Adam Dreier (Wisconsin).
To Fuel its Growth, Starbucks Relies on Mid-America
Coming out of the pandemic, Starbucks has been reinventing itself to adapt to changing consumer habits and tastes. That means accommodating more to-go orders, more drive-throughs, more customers using mobile applications to order and pay, and more cold drinks in demand at the world’s largest coffeehouse company.
In the Midwest, Starbucks relies considerably on Mid-America for retail real estate services to help grow and expand, including in untapped markets.
We’ve worked with Starbucks in Wisconsin since 2001, in Minnesota since 2011, and in Illinois and Indiana since 2015. Altogether, we’ve helped Starbucks open more than 240 locations, with about two dozen more outlets currently on the way in these markets.
Notably, Caribou Coffee is based in Minneapolis, so competition from them and others for highly desirable sites is particularly intense.
“We appreciate having Mid-America on our side,” said Julie Wolleat with Starbucks. “Their market knowledge and insight, not to mention their competitive drive on our behalf, is key to identifying and securing the best locations and lease terms for our stores in new and existing markets.”
In addition to lease negotiations, Mid-America identifies new market locations for Starbucks for expansion and relocation. That sometimes includes finding additional sites to take pressure off overperforming locations. We also often negotiate with developers who own or can acquire desirable sites and build to Starbucks’ prototype specifications.
Supporting Starbucks on the Mid-America team are Andy Bulson and Mike Phillips (Illinois and Indiana), Stefanie Meyer and Johnny Reimann (Minnesota) and Tony Colvin (Wisconsin).