It may not be in the retail trenches helping customers find the right dress for an event, recommending good reads for a summer vacation or guiding them to aisle three for cereal, but R.H. Ledbetter Properties still plays a big part in retailers’ successes. As a developer, owner and operator of 1.8 million square feet of commercial properties across Georgia, Tennessee and Indiana, Ledbetter Properties knows that the behind-the-scenes decision it makes affects retail performance at the register.
“Our customers are the retailers, not the consumers, and our objective is to make our retailers happy,” explains COO E. Wright Ledbetter of the family owned company. “We view them as our business partners, so we work closely with retailers to make sure we are providing them with the best business environment for their needs so they can find success conducting their business.”
In the past few years, while retailers have suffered from poor sales because of diminishing disposable incomes, Ledbetter Properties has had to become even more creative in helping retailers maintain business. Fortunately, it has the resources to pull it off as a turnkey developer.
“Our typical strategy is to build and retain,” Ledbetter says. “We manage our properties and keep them leased up and well-maintained. We are a long-term investor. We’re not building and then selling to a faceless, nameless institution or fund. We are here. We are accessible. And we are successful when our retailers are successful.”
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