Community Resource

ICSC Vegas 2026: Post Conference Report

POST CONFERENCE REPORT

Key Insights from the Industry’s Biggest Event

Our team attended ICSC Las Vegas 2026 with 40 professionals, conducting over 400 meetings with retailers, developers, and industry leaders.

The retail real estate industry gathered in Las Vegas last month for ICSC Las Vegas 2026, the largest retail real estate conference in the world. More than 20,000 attendees, 500+ exhibitors, and 125+ retailers came together to discuss expansion plans, investment activity, consumer trends, and the future of brick-and-mortar retail. 

  • Retailer Expansion Plans
  • Economic Outlook
  • Financing & Development
  • Market Trends
  • Boots on the Ground takeaways

For communities focused on retail recruitment and economic development, the message was clear: retail is not slowing down. In many ways, the industry has moved beyond recovery and entered a new phase defined by strong demand, limited supply, and increasing competition for quality development opportunities.  

This report compiles insights from three days of meetings at the industry’s largest gathering.

Download the Report

More Resources

  • Brands entering new states, and why breakfast chains can’t stop growing

    Brands entering new states, and why breakfast chains can’t stop growing

    What a month of expansion news says about where national retailers go next, and what your community can do before the call comes. Every week our team tracks retail expansion news: store openings, development agreements, earnings calls, building permits. Most weeks it reads like a list. This month it read like a pattern. From mid-September…

    View resource

  • Beyond the big cities: ICSC Southeast panel recap

    Beyond the big cities: ICSC Southeast panel recap

    The Southeast still leads the nation in population growth, job creation and business investment. But at ICSC Southeast last week, our panel made the case that the region’s biggest retail opportunities aren’t always in Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte or Tampa. Retail Strategies Director of Real Estate, Elliott Cook, joined the session “Beyond the Big Cities: Winning…

    View resource

  • Where growth is headed: Economic development and retail expansion in small towns

    Where growth is headed: Economic development and retail expansion in small towns

    Retail follows rooftops, and rooftops follow jobs. That order matters for every community working to attract new stores and restaurants, because the strongest retail recruitment story usually starts with an economic development win. When a manufacturer expands, a distribution center breaks ground or a new neighborhood gets approved, retailers notice. The past few months delivered…

    View resource

  • Smaller boxes, smaller towns: Two retail trends rural and mid-sized communities can use now

    Smaller boxes, smaller towns: Two retail trends rural and mid-sized communities can use now

    Our team spends time in communities all over the country, working with the brokers, developers, and retailers who shape what gets built and where. Those conversations give us a clear view of where national brands are headed. Here’s what stands out right now, and what it means for retail recruitment in small towns. Trend one…

    View resource

2026 Retailer Report

The Sales Tax Report

Our exclusive report aggregates the jobs and sales tax revenue for over 200 top retailers.Â