Market Place Fairness Act Could Level the Playing Field, Macnab Says

Craig Macnab, chairman and CEO with National Retail Properties (NYSE: NNN), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview in Chicago at REITWeek 2013: NAREIT’s Investor Forum.

National Retail Properties invests in single-tenant retail properties that are generally subject to long-term net leases. The company owns a diversified portfolio of 1,506 freestanding retail properties in 47 states with a total gross leasable area of approximately 17.8 million square feet. The properties are leased to more than 300 tenants in 36 industry classifications.

Macnab shared his opinion on the key factors for maintaining recovery in the retail sector.

“I think what you’re seeing is market shifts taking place, and not much rising tide lifting all the boats,” he said. “There’s a little bit of growth, but it’s a dog-eat-dog environment.  Just think about Wal-Mart.  In the most recent quarter, they announced negative same store sales. They’re executing pretty well, but their boat is not rising in this environment. In general, retail is doing fine, but clearly we need more jobs, which is going to lead to the consumer having more money in their pocket.”

National Retail has been active in terms of acquisitions this year. Macnab discussed the types of properties that the company is targeting.

“We’re continuing to find opportunities in our primary property types,” he said. “Convenience stores and restaurants we’ve come back too. In the go-go years when there was a lot of competition in that category, it got bid up. We chose to step back. Right now some of those people maybe got their fingers burned a little bit. They have stepped away, and we’re finding some good opportunities there. But we’re finding opportunities all the way down our tenant roster. ”

Macnab also talked about the potential impact of the Marketplace Fairness Act.

“Clearly, it levels the playing field and is a good thing,” he said. “For retailers that are impacted by the Internet… it’s a little bit less of a factor. Clearly, the successful retailers today need to have omni-channel strategies.”