Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods marked a tipping point for traditional grocers… not toward their demise, but toward rapid innovation. The e-commerce giant’s entry into the grocery industry challenged grocers to take a close look at how their customers define convenience, and how grocers can meet those expectations. The result: an exciting period of innovation unlike anything we’ve seen in Phillips Edison’s 25+ years in business.

Have you ever tried to get someone to do something they didn’t particularly want to do? Maybe you’re a manager and you asked one of your team members to do a tedious task. Or you asked a co-worker to help out with something really frustrating. Perhaps you’re a parent trying to get your children to do their homework. Or maybe you’re a customer, asking a sales rep to go the extra mile. Whatever the request, you probably met with resistance. It might not have gotten done at all, was completed but not quite the way you wanted, or maybe it got done - but took forever.

Heading into 2019, the biggest concern for commercial real estate landlords isn’t simply the threat e-commerce poses to retail tenants. A more poignant question about e-commerce disruption might be this: Does the retailer have the financial freedom to respond?

Life is full of firsts and lasts – both of which we mark with things like birthday parties, baby showers, graduations, photographs and keepsakes. But somewhere in the middle of all of that, we forget to appreciate the in between – the moments that happen as we are moving from first to last. And sometimes, those in between moments hold greater significance than any milestone we consciously look toward or mark.

Instagram currently has more than 800 million users on a monthly basis, making it a huge platform of opportunity for B2B brands. Although you may think that your company or brand isn’t relevant on this platform, there are thousands of companies and brands using Instagram to bring awareness to their services and products, engage with their audience and to attract new clients and customers.

In an environment where consumer shopping habits are rapidly changing, grocery stores are standing out among their retailer peers for their adaptability.

Over the past decade, there’s been a significant shift in the way families approach meals, how they think about food and even the way most individuals choose to spend money. These profound changes underpin a facelift within the modern supermarket that is helping grocers continue their legacy as a necessity-based retail center that is vital to consumers’ daily lives.

How do you spend your commute to work? Pretending you’re a guest on Carpool Karaoke, frantically screaming at bad drivers, or calmly engrossed in your latest podcast download? For me, it’s (usually) a new podcast episode I’m tuned into. I am an avid podcast listener and subscribe to a variety of series. Naturally, when it came time to brainstorm new marketing initiatives for Phillips Edison’s National Accounts team, a podcast series jumped to mind since we’re already out and about meeting with retailers across the country. Thus, Retail Intel was born.

Phillips Edison’s Chief Marketing Officer, Cherilyn Megill, recently wrote a blog about first jobs and the incredibly valuable lessons we often learn from them. In it, she talked about a conversation she and I had regarding my own first job at a sub shop. That got me thinking about all of the jobs I’ve held and, of course, in true over-thinker fashion, the whole train of thought snowballed.

Phillips Edison was recently awarded one of the ‘Best Places to Work’ in Cincinnati for the second year in a row. I have been fortunate to work with some great companies in my many years in the CRE industry, but PECO offers some unique benefits that set us apart from the rest. They may not be an official part of our benefits plan, but these “perks” create a sense of community in the workplace and enrich the daily lives of associates. Here are some of the “buzzworthy” benefits to being a part of PECO.

This month’s #PeopleofPECO theme is focused on our BZZZ-worthy associates, retailers, and industry trends. Allison Lembright has created quite the BZZZ at PECO since she joined the company in 2014. In that time, she’s gone from co-op to full-time graphic designer -and recently pushed herself even farther as a leader of PECO’s Innovation Lab. Read her story below.