Bringing A Century’s Worth Of Experience To The Table
Century 4 Retail Advisors brings four dealmakers to the table for growing retailers and independent developers.
Randall Shearin

Not many retail advisory firms have 166 years of experience, especially when they only have four members. Century 4 Retail Advisors LLC is comprised of four senior real estate professionals. Their mission: to find great locations for growing retailers and great tenants for independent developers.

Shopping Center Business recently met with the four principals of the company, who are based in four different parts of the U.S., at the magazine’s Atlanta offices. SCB met with Ken Garagiola, Larry Moss, Larry Johnson and John Bradbury.

Century 4 is helping retailer America! find sites in select cities.

If those names sound familiar, it’s because you’ve probably read them on these pages before. The four principals of Century 4 have experience with a multitude of retailers and landlords. Bradbury, who is based in Savannah, Georgia, has worked for Coast-to-Coast stores, Ben Franklin, and Claire’s Boutiques. For 17 years, he ran the real estate and construction departments at B. Dalton, taking the chain from 240 stores to 1,100. From 1996 to 2006 Bradbury was with Select Comfort as the head of real estate and construction, adding over 300 stores. Garagiola, who is based in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, started his retail career in 1968 with Melville Shoe (Thom McAn) and most recently worked for Spencer Gifts serving over 23 years.  During Garagiola’s tenure with Spencer Gifts, he moved up within the company  to vice president of operations, real estate, construction and store maintenance.  Johnson, based in Sunrise Beach, Missouri, started his real estate career with Standard Oil Company and Ben Franklin.  He was most recently vice president of real estate and construction at Helzberg Diamonds for 26 years.  Under his leadership, Helzberg expanded from just over 30 stores to 270 stores in 34 states.  Moss, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has worked for Filene’s, Casual Corner, Hill’s Department Stores and Franklin Simon. He switched gears and became a center manager with Westcor. He managed and leased MetroCenter, a super-regional center in Phoenix. Later, he moved into leasing at the corporate level for Westcor/Macerich.

“We all held senior management positions in our respective companies,” says Garagiola. “We also have the diversity of knowing a lot of the malls and centers around the country since we’ve negotiated leases for so many stores.”

The four principals all knew each other through leasing and industry social functions. As the four neared retirement (all had been at their respective employers for many years), they began to talk about forming a consultancy. All four retired from their last positions between 2004 through 2006. They formally met on an Alaskan cruise with their wives in 2005. While they were on the cruise, they sat in a lounge and sketched, on a napkin, a business plan. After Johnson retired from Helzberg Diamonds in June 2006 — the last of the four to do so — he came on board and Century 4 officially launched in September 2006.

Century 4 is representing Canadian cosmetics retailer Faces in its expansion to the U.S.

Over the last 7 months, Century 4 has built a client base of upcoming retailers and a new, family-owned mixed-use lifestyle center. The company’s largest specialty retail client is Faces Cosmetics, a Canadian manufacturer and retailer who plans a large U.S. expansion. The company already operates more than 30 stores in Canada and 15 in Mexico, and several more in the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Century 4 has possible deals set for Faces in Texas, New Jersey, Illinois and Washington, D.C. Faces is franchise-driven, so Century 4 is called in as franchisees come onboard and begin to scout for locations. Faces plans to rapidly expand in the U.S., ultimately opening over 100 stores within the next few years.

Century 4 is also working with a gift store chain called America! The company is a retailer of goods and collectibles relating to the United States, politics, U.S. presidential memorabilia and related gift items like coffee mugs and picture frames. The company currently has locations in enclosed malls, such as The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia, and airports like Washington Dulles and Newark Liberty. The company is looking for locations in and around Washington D.C., airports and possibly other high tourist and convention areas such as Las Vegas.  America! looks for locations in markets that are tourist and convention driven.

Rendering of Marketplace at Village Gardens in Lincoln, Nebraska. Century 4 is involved in the leasing of the project.

Century 4 is also involved in the tenanting of The Marketplace at Village Gardens in Lincoln, Nebraska. A local family, the Campbells, has operated a nursery business in Lincoln since 1912.  The Campbell family is building 1,000 homes and a 370,000-square-foot mixed-use lifestyle center.  Century 4 is working on a merchandising plan for the center, which will open in mid-2008. Century 4 would like to see a national or regional organic/natural foods grocer anchor the center. A bookstore, restaurants, hotel, dinner theater, home décor, and other specialty retailers are also planned for the center. The nursery, a local draw for more than 90 years, will be an integral part of the project.

Ken Garagiola (left) and Larry Johnson (right).

“The owners are looking for an English village atmosphere to serve the highly educated community,” says Garagiola. “We’re going to be creating something that is different and not currently in the market, and therefore will not be competitive with other retail centers in the greater Lincoln trade area.”

Century 4 brings a unique experience to its clients. Because the four principals have worked in leasing since the 1970s (some since the ‘60s), they know nearly every mall and large shopping center in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. They have also done work internationally in countries like the United Kingdom. Since many of their concepts were located in venues other than malls, the principals have experience with lifestyle centers, airport leasing, as well as temporary seasonal leases. Because of their backgrounds with several growing chains, they can offer real estate, construction, operational, and merchandising services to retailers.

“Because we’ve been in the business for so long we have some longstanding relationships,” says Johnson. “Relationships are what the retail real estate business was built on.”

While all four of the principals are in different locations across the country, this plays well with clients. Any one of them is usually within an hour’s flight of any major city in the U.S. Their locations help control travel costs for their clients as well as giving them immediate service. Often, the four meet at a site or client meeting. For instance, all four were leaving for Dallas after their meeting in Atlanta to meet with a client about a specialty retailer’s upcoming stores in that area.

Larry Moss.

Century 4 sees its responsibility in making sure all their clients, small or large, are fairly represented when they are leasing shopping center space.

“We want to make sure our clients are getting a lease that represents a good space, with good economics,” says Garagiola. “We hope to effectively reduce their costs while negotiating on their behalf. Many tenants will sometimes miss opportunities and sign a lease, whereas, Century 4 will negotiate every business aspect of the lease for their clients.  Our team provides a wide range of retail services, as well as pairing the client’s use to the right venue.”

On the project leasing side, the company has experience in leasing in entertainment centers, mixed-use lifestyle centers and enclosed regional malls. The company puts leasing plans together and develops business plans for centers and retailers alike.

John Bradbury.

“Many clients have expertise in retail, but have limited real estate experience,” says Bradbury. “We are a good partner for that type of merchant or landlord. We understand the world of real estate for people who don’t have a real estate department. Our clients really get four experts for the price of one.”

For one of its clients, Century 4 further negotiated a lease to the point where the amortized savings over the term of the lease was nearly $100,000. For another client, who had made a mistake and needed to cancel a lease, Century 4 renegotiated the lease to save the deal, making both the landlord and retailer happy.

Garagiola is the managing partner, and the company has an administrator who handles the day-to-day office functions. The four principals communicate frequently via phone and e-mail.  The group conducts bi-weekly conference calls with a planned agenda handling all client topics and issues. 

While working to increase business, Century 4 is mindful about being spread too thin as the company grows and desires clients that are good expansion candidates. Also, Century 4 is seeking additional diverse projects to lease. The four principals expect to have eight clients on its roster by the end of 2007.


©2007 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.