Building a Retail Real Estate Powerhouse in the Southeast: The Carolina Retail Experts Story
In the competitive world of commercial real estate, specialization can be the key to success. For Elyse Welch, Partner at Carolina Retail Experts, that specialization manifested in an exclusive focus on retail – a strategic decision that has positioned her firm as a distinguished boutique retail real estate consultancy in the Southeast.
Welch’s entry into retail real estate began during her senior year at college in Charleston, where she was attending on a volleyball scholarship. A real estate finance class featuring guest speaker John Orr would prove instrumental in shaping her career trajectory, albeit through an unconventional introduction. After persistent efforts to secure an internship, Welch secured a meeting with Orr at a downtown Charleston establishment, where he presented an unexpected challenge.
“For the first 20 minutes, he says, ‘you don’t want to do this job. This is a hard job. You’re not going to make any money. People aren’t nice, and they’re not going to take you seriously,'” Welch recalls. Rather than deterring her, this calculated test cemented her resolve – a response that ultimately secured her position with the firm.
Following successful tenures at Colliers and Lee & Associates spanning twelve years, Welch and her partners launched Carolina Retail Experts in December 2020. The firm’s strategic specialization in retail real estate distinguishes it in a market where most firms maintain diversified commercial portfolios. This focused approach has proved especially advantageous in the post-pandemic landscape, as South Carolina emerged as the second most popular destination state for domestic migration in 2020.
The firm’s site selection methodology reflects a sophisticated understanding of retail market dynamics. For food and beverage operators like Starbucks, the analysis encompasses precise drive-time metrics and detailed consumer traffic patterns, with particular attention to synergies with educational institutions, grocery-anchored centers, and major retail concentrations. As an example, “[for a niche coffee chain] we’d need a certain number of people within about a seven to ten minute drive time, because that’s as far as you’re going to drive for a cup of coffee before we need to start thinking about another store,” Welch explains. “We have to think about the traffic pattern between their homes and where these people live and where they may work or drop off their kids.” This meticulous approach to market analysis exemplifies the strategic value her firm delivers.
Further, the region’s demographic expansion has generated substantial opportunities in the retail sector. “Retail follows rooftops,” Welch notes. “Not only along the coast, where I am headquartered out of Charleston, South Carolina, but in the Upstate and even in the Midlands, with some great new job announcements coming from across the state over the last three, four years.” This growth has particularly strengthened the firm’s tenant representation practice, headed by Welch, while Lindsey Halter directs landlord representation and John Orr oversees investment and developer relations.
The firm’s analytical approach is both comprehensive and market-specific. “Each retailer is driven by a different customer and different type of customer, and you have to really drill down into who is that specific customer for this tenant,” Welch explains. The firm’s institutional-grade approach invests up to 24 months in strategic site planning and launch execution for each location.
Their market planning protocol begins with penetration analysis and demographic studies before proceeding to site-specific evaluation. Regular strategic reviews incorporate emerging residential developments and retail anchors that could influence site selection criteria. This systematic approach particularly resonates with publicly traded clients requiring sophisticated market analysis and stringent site selection parameters.
While maintaining a regional focus, the firm’s influence extends throughout the national retail real estate landscape. Through strategic relationship cultivation, Carolina Retail Experts has established a comprehensive network of retail specialists across the country, enabling seamless solutions for clients regardless of geography. This combination of specialized local expertise and national reach has fueled their expansion from three brokers in 2020 to seven today, while maintaining the high-touch service model their institutional and professional investor clients value.
For Welch and her team, retail real estate transcends traditional professional boundaries. “You give up your nine to five job to work seven to seven,” she notes. This dedication, coupled with their analytical rigor and unwavering retail focus, has established Carolina Retail Experts as an authoritative presence in the Southeast’s retail real estate market.
