Retail Initiative

ULI Chicago’s multi-year Retail Initiative brings best policies and practices in retail development directly to community leaders. Our goal is to help foster an environment where communities can collaborate to attract strong, sustainable retail as an integral part of their built environment.

Attracting and sustaining healthy retail development continues to be a challenge for most Chicago area communities even in the post-recession economy. Changing demographics, lifestyles and the steady rise of e-commerce are altering the retail landscape rapidly, making it necessary for communities to re-evaluate their competitive position in the market as well as their retail development strategies.

While each municipality and neighborhood has its unique challenges and opportunities, the underpinnings of creating and sustaining healthy retail remain largely unchanged. Recognizing that, ULI Chicago Retail Initiative has developed the following tools for communities:

Tools for Communities
Retail Report. The report provides an overview of major trends affecting retail development and best practices findings based on ULI National’s research and ULI Chicago’s local programs completed as a part of its Retail Initiative.

Retail Primer. The Primer is a 3-step “checklist” that municipalities can use to understand what type of retail development is supportable in their community and the steps needed to translate the development potential into reality.

The Primer is designed as a working document for a community’s planning and development team – we encourage you to download it today!

Retail Discussion. ULI Chicago has presented its Retail Workshop recommendations and the Retail Primer to clusters of communities throughout the Chicago area to promote resource sharing and cross-collaboration.  Read about ULI Chicago Retail Cluster Meetings.

To schedule a retail discussion in your community, please contact ULI Chicago at 773-549-4972.

Continuing the Conversation
Recognizing that the retail landscape is continuously changing, we are using this page to share latest industry trends, relevant research, and “opinion pieces” from ULI members, complementing the information and strategies presented in our Retail Report. Be sure to watch this space and join in on the conversation by sharing your experiences with fellow ULI members!

Take a look at our opinion piece on BOPIS

Join the Conversation
Contact us to Write an Opinion Piece