Ebere Anokute had worked as a retail researcher for years, but he decided he needed boots-on-the-ground experience in the industry.
That's why Anokute, who just joined CBRE as its retail research leader, did a two-year stint at eyewear seller Warby Parker, where he oversaw more than 300 of its stores. He joined the chain in 2023 after working at CBRE rival JLL for seven years in retail research.
"I wanted to go to Warby Parker to get that sort of hands-on experience at a retailer," Anokute told CoStar News at trade group ICSC's recent conference in New York. "When you're doing research, you're always talking about what people are doing and I wanted to actually experience that for myself. My time there was really educational. I learned so much in those two years, and I think it just makes me a stronger researcher and able to apply what I learned there to what we're doing here at CBRE."
At Warby Parker, Anokute developed and executed annual real estate strategies to support market expansion, including site selection and lease negotiations. He said the part of the gig that he "loved," was picking locations for stores.
"Site selection was really fascinating, to understand all the different data points and the reasoning and logic that goes into the decisions that are made with regard to expansion," he said. "I thought that was ... really educational for me to understand how retailers are thinking about expansion and how careful they're being."
At CBRE, Anokute is based in Manhattan and reports to Julie Whelan, the brokerage's head of occupier research. He's tasked with keeping CBRE and its clients informed on the latest research insights and emerging retail trends, the firm said.