About Bob Gibbs
Robert Gibbs is considered one of the foremost urban retail planners in America. For more than two decades, his expertise has been sought by some of the most respected mayors, renowned architects, and successful real-estate developers in the country. Profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Urban Land, Gibbs has, writes The Atlantic Monthly, "a commercial sensibility unlike anything possessed by the urban planners who usually design downtown-renewal efforts."
For the past 25 years, Gibbs has been active in developing innovative yet practical methods for applying modern trends in commercial development to more than 300 town centers and historic cities here and abroad.
Gibbs has lectured throughout the country and has contributed articles to numerous books and publications. For the past 12 years, he has taught "Urban Retail Planning" in the Executive Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Among the American cities that have consulted Gibbs are Alexandria, Atlanta, Cambridge, Charleston, Chicago, Denver, Knoxville, Naples, Portland, and Seattle, as have the states of Florida and Oregon.
Leading universities, such as Brown, Johns Hopkins, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State and Pennsylvania, have also retained his services. Gibbs's corporate clientele has included Fortune 500 companies, such as Electronic Data Systems, General Motors, and The Walt Disney Company, real-estate industry leaders such as Taubman Centers, Inc., and Simon Property Group, and architectural innovators such as Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company. Before establishing the Gibbs Planning Group in 1988, Gibbs gained invaluable expertise in retail planning by advising shopping center developers on the psychology of commerce-the practical science of analyzing and adjusting all elements known to affect a shopper's mood in the marketplace.
From this experience, Gibbs distilled the fundamental retail and merchandising principles for reviving retail in moribund downtowns and for instilling successful commerce in new ones.
Registration is closed. If you would like to attend, please contact Annette at 831.457.3713 for availability. Featuring Bob Gibbs, National Urban Retail Planning Consultant
Registration is closed. If you would like to attend, please contact Annette at 831.457.3713 for availability.
Featuring Bob Gibbs, National Urban Retail Planning Consultant
Bob Gibbs, one of the pre-eminent figures in national retail planning and management, will speak on national trends in retail at the Santa Cruz Chamber Luncheon October 14. His presentation will include: • Trends in retail property management and community planning • Changes in consumer behavior and purchasing power • Success stories in downtown and neighborhood retail development Trends in Retail Property Management and Community Planning What are the characteristics of downtowns that are thriving and those that are not? How are property owners adapting to a precipitous reduction in new stores and demands for improved terms from existing tenants? How are urban planners revising their expectations and refocusing their resources to keep shopping areas vital? Gibbs will discuss how the retail shopping-area projects he has worked on in larger cities from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Seattle to smaller cities such as Naples, FL and Wasilla, AK are adapting to new consumer behaviors, weakness in commercial real estate, and crises in some retail sectors. Changes in consumer behavior and purchasing power The past two years have seen precipitous drops in credit card borrowing and lending on home equity. Coupled with the reduction of net worth of homes and investments economists project significant reductions in average annual consumer spending. How is this affecting consumer behavior today and what are researchers projecting for the next decade? How might this be distributed among retail segments? How could it affect the priorities and purchasing by age-group, income-group, and other demographic segments? Success stories in downtown and neighborhood retail development How are these consumer preferences affecting downtowns and neighborhood retail vis a vis shopping malls? What are national retailers’ investing in? How have other retail areas addressed problems common to Santa Cruz? Gibbs will also reflect opportunities he thinks might improve the Santa Cruz retail environment downtown, in the beach/wharf area, and in the eastside and Westside shopping areas. He will have studied Santa Cruz’s retail planning and performance and met with local retailers, property owners and their agents, lenders and investors, and local government prior to the luncheon. The Chamber invites you to take advantage of this luncheon presentation on national trends in retailing on
Bob Gibbs, one of the pre-eminent figures in national retail planning and management, will speak on national trends in retail at the Santa Cruz Chamber Luncheon October 14. His presentation will include:
• Trends in retail property management and community planning • Changes in consumer behavior and purchasing power • Success stories in downtown and neighborhood retail development
Trends in Retail Property Management and Community Planning What are the characteristics of downtowns that are thriving and those that are not? How are property owners adapting to a precipitous reduction in new stores and demands for improved terms from existing tenants? How are urban planners revising their expectations and refocusing their resources to keep shopping areas vital?
Gibbs will discuss how the retail shopping-area projects he has worked on in larger cities from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Seattle to smaller cities such as Naples, FL and Wasilla, AK are adapting to new consumer behaviors, weakness in commercial real estate, and crises in some retail sectors.
Changes in consumer behavior and purchasing power The past two years have seen precipitous drops in credit card borrowing and lending on home equity. Coupled with the reduction of net worth of homes and investments economists project significant reductions in average annual consumer spending.
How is this affecting consumer behavior today and what are researchers projecting for the next decade? How might this be distributed among retail segments? How could it affect the priorities and purchasing by age-group, income-group, and other demographic segments?
Success stories in downtown and neighborhood retail development How are these consumer preferences affecting downtowns and neighborhood retail vis a vis shopping malls? What are national retailers’ investing in? How have other retail areas addressed problems common to Santa Cruz?
Gibbs will also reflect opportunities he thinks might improve the Santa Cruz retail environment downtown, in the beach/wharf area, and in the eastside and Westside shopping areas. He will have studied Santa Cruz’s retail planning and performance and met with local retailers, property owners and their agents, lenders and investors, and local government prior to the luncheon.
The Chamber invites you to take advantage of this luncheon presentation on national trends in retailing on
Cost: Members: $35, Non-members $50 Member Table of 8: $275
Please click on the Red Register button at the top of this page to register for the luncheon.
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On Friday, October 15, Bob Gibbs will also be holding a workshop for retailers is an opportunity to learn how others are surviving and thriving in a retail environment that must adapt to great changes in consumer attitudes and expectations. Trends and projections suggest that there will be a long-term contraction in retail sales. But this reduction will not be spread evenly among the various retail segment or among retailers with in a particular segment.
Gibbs will discuss: • Simple, inexpensive methods for increasing the sales of your retail store or restaurant • Dozens of techniques utilized by leading national retailers to adapt to new consumer buying behaviors • Management and merchandising tips that will improve bottom-line performance
This workshop is sponsored by the Chamber and the City Economic Development and Redevelopment Agency and product in cooperation with the Cabrillo Small Business Development Center and the Santa Cruz Downtown Association.
Take advantage of this opportunity.
Click here to register for the workshop
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