Bill Read tries to stump and educate his colleagues in the retail real estate industry every week.
Read, an executive vice president at Birmingham, Alabama-based Retail Specialists, publishes a retailer trivia quiz on LinkedIn on Fridays. Each one includes clues about an unidentified company and a map with that chain's store locations. Players test their knowledge to figure out who it is.
"I started about over a year ago and it really snowballed into its own little thing on LinkedIn," Read told CoStar News. "People that love retail tend to really like it and play weekly. And I'm not looking for a wide audience on these. You're either interested in retail and the retailer or you simply scroll by it. You see a map and how well do you know your retail."
Read, a veteran broker who represents both retail landlords and tenants, is passionate about the business and is a fount of information on the subject, carefully tracking store closings and bankruptcies, among other related topics. Crafting a retailer trivia quiz was a fun way to share some of what he's learned and is potentially helpful to landlords who aren't familiar with some current and potential tenants, according to Read.
"I'm always studying retailers," he said. "I think a lot of landlords don't know much about the retailers they're doing business with besides their store size and their location, like an end cap. But retailers are looking for much more from a landlord. It really helps to understand where a brand started, their special sauce and more specifics on who their customers are. So, I just thought this was a good way of sharing what I was digging into already."
Some quizzes can be difficult, according to Read.
One recent quiz read in part: "This retailer's first store opened in California under a different name. It didn’t go so well, so they rebranded and used a connection in the mall business to open the first store under its current name. Their early expansion was mainly in malls, but they began experimenting with off mall locations. Today, less than 2% stores are in malls."
One recent quiz read in part: "This retailer's first store opened in California under a different name. It didn’t go so well, so they rebranded and used a connection in the mall business to open the first store under its current name. Their early expansion was mainly in malls, but they began experimenting with off mall locations. Today, less than 2% stores are in malls."
The answer? Panda Express, the privately held quick-service American Chinese restaurant chain — known for its Orange Chicken — with roughly 2,500 locations.
Read used to post the answers to Friday quizzes later the same day on LinkedIn, but now he waits almost a week to provide the name of the retailer.
He often decides what chain to choose for the quiz based on which ones he has seen on his travels to various states for work or when he's seen a company in the news. He'll then research that retailer's back story via its website or its investor relations page if it's publicly traded — or go to references like Wikipedia if it's not. He usually includes sales figures.
"One of the things I try to do is post a little bit of information that I can find on where their first stores were and how they started out," Read said. "But I end up having to be a little cryptic because otherwise, it's too easy for people to copy and paste these into AI to get the answer, which I think takes away, for me, the fun of actually learning something."
He said it takes from 30 minutes to an hour to create a quiz. So far Read has done quizzes on 67 retailers such as discounters, grocers, department stores, apparel sellers and restaurants. That list includes Kroger, AT&T, Boot Barn, Nordstrom, Hibbett, UPS Stores, Aldi, Buc-ees, Carters, Rural King and McDonald's.
Read also posts the names of those who got the retailer's name right, saying they deserve the recognition after taking the time to do the quiz. That winners' list often includes Jim Lampassi, senior vice president of real estate and construction at Academy Sports & Outdoors, according to Read, who said Lampassi "tends to nail all" of the correct answers.
"He's a very seasoned professional," Read said of Lampassi. "He's been around for a long, long time. ... It's always fun when he responds and knows the person — personally — that's running the real estate" for the retailer in the quiz.
And Read offered an insider tip regarding the hints for the quizzes.
"A little-known thing is I try to leave at least one bread crumb with a keyword that would probably give it away if the rest of the information wasn't [there]," he said.