Since 1974 Cadillac Fairview has been creating landmark retail and commercial real estate around the world. In the face of the pandemic and changing social times, how is this influential commercial real estate company weaving the retail landscape into its impact-driven strategy? On this episode of The Voice of Retail, my guest is retail veteran Inge van den Berg, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Risk at Cadillac Fairview.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Since 1974 Cadillac Fairview has been creating landmark retail and commercial real estate around the world.
In the face of the pandemic and changing social times, how is this influential commercial real estate company weaving the retail landscape into its impact-driven strategy?
On this episode of The Voice of Retail, my guest is retail veteran Inge van den Berg, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Risk at Cadillac Fairview.
We talk about the increasing importance of fostering wholly rounded communities - from social connectivity to environmental sustainability. Inge outlines Cadillac Fairview’s role in delivering a brighter future and details the company’s new goals that centre community, people and the planet.
We discuss the evolution of dynamic retail spaces in the face of changing times and how Cadillac Fairview is keeping up with the great acceleration.
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
A passionate, yet pragmatic leader and team player with a track record of driving change and delivering strong results through collaborative facilitation. A senior executive with extensive experience in retail, consumer goods, and real estate industries; including nine years of investor relations, corporate affairs, business unit management and corporate strategy. Complemented by ten years in management consulting, working with Global and North American companies to define and execute growth and go-to-market strategies, as well as operational improvements.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:10
For 45 years Cadillac Fairview has been oriented around transforming communities for a vibrant tomorrow. In the face of the pandemic and changing social times, how is this influential commercial real estate company weaving the retail landscape into its impact-driven strategy?
Michael LeBlanc 00:24
On this episode of The Voice of Retail, my guest is retail veteran Inge van den Berg, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Risk at Cadillac Fairview. We talk about the increasing importance of fostering wholly rounded communities - from social connectivity to environmental sustainability. Inge outlines Cadillac Fairview’s role in delivering a brighter future and details the company’s new goals that centre community, people and the planet. We discuss the evolution of dynamic retail spaces in the face of changing times and how Cadillac Fairview is keeping up with the great acceleration.
Inge van den Berg 00:54
It's a decade's long impact I mean our you know, Toronto Dominion Center it's over 50 years like these are permanent, you know, landmarks and so, yes, always focused on emissions reductions and energy usage reduction of waste diversion.
Michael LeBlanc 01:13
Let's listen in now.
Inge, welcome to the Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this morning?
Inge van den Berg 01:18
I'm very well Michael, thanks so much for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 01:21
Well, it's a, it's been a great adventure between me and you, changing our schedules to get you on. I am thrilled we're together at the same place, at the same time. So, I'm really looking forward to our conversation, of course, as CF, Cadillac Fairview being a name that my listeners would know well, but I'm pretty sure they don't know as much as they think they know, or as here's lots more to tell. And so, that's why I'm really excited to have a conversation. So, why don't we jump right in. Let's start with telling me a bit or telling us a bit about yourself, your background and your role at Cadillac Fairview.
Inge van den Berg 01:54
Certainly, happy to. So, prior to Cadillac Fairview, I actually had quite a stint within retail. I was at Loblaw for eight years in various positions, and then also, management consulting for over a decade, mainly working with retailers. And then after Loblaw, I came here to Cadillac Fairview, where I've been for a little over seven years.
And so, switching a bit from retail, but also still leveraging that and, and I run a team called 'Strategic Insights and Risk'. And really what we do is we support our executive and management team in conducting research, tailored analyses and evaluating impacts to help, Cadillac Fairview both define and execute its strategic plan. So, that's inclusive of monitoring for enterprise risks. And also, I help to facilitate CF’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy.
Michael LeBlanc 02:52
Did you, you know I moved from the vendor side, I was a Black and Decker into the retail side I went to Hudson's Bay at one point and then stayed in retail. So, I have been in retail, you know, I found that when I moved to the retail side, I brought with me some insights that I shared with my retailers about what it's like to be in the shoes of the vendor. Have you found similar like with so many years spent, whether it's consulting but certainly in retail, when you come over to the CF side is, is it gives you a broader context for understanding and planning and helping the team understand both sides of, of how the ecosystem works?
Inge van den Berg 03:28
It certainly does. Because there is very much that required partnership between what I'll say CF traditional landlord role used to be however now much more of a partner with its retailers. And in actuality, what's been helpful is knowing the dynamics of the detailed retail business and then also all of the varying aspects that impact commercial real estate company. I think it does help and I think it's, it's, it's certainly that way that we're really you know, kind of partnering closer together with a lot of our retailers.
Michael LeBlanc 04:09
Alright, let's talk about Cadillac Fairview. So, as I as I said off the top, for this audience a name that they would certainly know and, and for millions and millions, 10's of millions of Canadians who have walked through your properties one time, one way shape or another. But I often find that we don't know as much as we think we know about the organization. Tell us a bit about the origin story, the full scope and scale and, and spend a few minutes on CF for us.
Inge van den Berg 04:33
Yeah, certainly, happy to. Cadillac Fairview, as you said, I think a lot of people know that it is an owner, operator, investor and developer of best-in-class retail. And we know many people know about our Canadian aspect, but we're also globally focused, and not only across retail and office but also residential, industrial and mixed use asset classes. We're wholly owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and CF manages in excess of 35 billion assets across the Americas, United Kingdom, with future expansion plan for Europe and Asia.
Regardless, of what geography we're in, we're really all focused on creating vibrant destinations and, and cultivating those innovative spaces and experiences that help bring people together. Internationally, CF invests in communities with like-minded partners so Stanhope in the UK, Lincoln Property Company in the US, Multiplan in Brazil. And you know, overall and I think where a lot of people recognize us are our 68 landmark properties across Canada from the TD Center and CF Toronto Eaton Center, out to the west coast of, of CF Pacific Center and also in Montreal and Calgary with CF Carrefour Laval, Tour Deloitte and CF Chinook Center.
Michael LeBlanc 06:01
You know, I, I was, I have a client in from Ireland and I, we went on a retail tour last week, which is the first time we've been in the some of the shopping centers. So, we're in CF Eaton Center, and it's funny to see, you know, I'm so familiar with Eaton Center, right, I work for Hudson's Bay. So, I was attached to it for so many years, right down Bay and, and Yonge. It's so interesting to see it in fresh eyes, like just wow, what a place you know, and it's funny because you get a bit, you know, not you get a bit I've, you know, I've grown up with it. So, it's so interesting to see it, it being CF Eaton Center through someone else's eyes, and what a piece of real estate and then as we're walking through Hudson's Bay, as it gets all connected, so it's really it, you know, sometimes we, we forget how impressive the work that the CF does, and the properties that you own as you as you called them, you know, landmark properties is really a great description.
Inge van den Berg 06:52
Yeah, interestingly, one of my first jobs was actually in the same office building here at 20 Queen that's attached to the Eaton Center. And having seen so many different retailers in here, but also now that it spans like three city blocks, in downtown Toronto. It certainly does what I hope everyone considers makes a, a quite an impact on the community here.
Michael LeBlanc 07:16
Yeah, even just walking across the bridge, the new bridge is just, you know, just such a visual, visual treat.
Anyway, let's talk about this new purpose behind CF. I mean, it's, to say the least, it's a, it's not exactly we're gonna optimize tenant mix kind of objective. It's very broad, and, and very human. So, talk about the evolution of this, you know, this role of human connect, connection and connectivity and this new, this new purpose behind CF? How did it come about and describe it for us?
Inge van den Berg 07:47
Our purpose, which is transforming communities for a vibrant tomorrow, was something that we embarked on over 4-5 years ago, and to define it, and it really has been a guiding light for all the years since then. And it is really about kind of affirming that our belief that, you know, human connection is the core of individual and societal health and well-being.
I mean, certainly with social detachment on the rise, and not only because of COVID-19, but really also due to the effects of, you know, the political and cultural polarization.
Michael LeBlanc 08:30
Social media,
Inge van den Berg 08:31
Yeah, social media, those echo chambers, you know, we're really, you know, proud to create and cultivate those exceptional spaces and experiences that bring people together in inspired ways and that's across retail, office, the residential that we're building around some of our centers. So, we really think that, you know, social connectivity is, you know, the importance of it has never been greater. And so, we really want to make sure that our purpose creates those spaces for people to freely flow with commerce and ideas. So, you know, we're working on our properties for those go to places for our communities to gather be it shopping, dining, working. We're really trying to create memorable experiences for all our guests in those spaces.
Michael LeBlanc 09:19
Now was there, you've got such a great background in both retail and consulting. Was there a point at which the organization collectively said we need a new vision? Or was it an evolution of thought that was already happening? Like what was that four years ago or five years ago? What was that point that, that started, you and the team on this journey?
Inge van den Berg 09:38
Yeah, I would say certainly, it was an evolution. Because as we are expanding internationally and even to other types of asset classes, we first of all know the lasting impact of commercial real estate. When we develop a building, it is there to stay and last and so we wanted to focus on creating those communities but transforming it into tomorrow for a much better place, and those long-lasting spaces. But, what's also interesting is, we certainly think about our communities internally as well with our people. It's not solely outward reaching, but it's really with all of our stakeholders being in the community with our partners, our clients, our service providers, it's very much that community definition is very broad reaching as well.
Michael LeBlanc 10:30
It feels like you needed a mission, so to speak, that, that would bear the weight of that responsibility. Because as you, as you say, you know, you don't build properties that are pop ups.Well, you might have pop ups. But you know, these properties are become part of a city, become part of culture, become part of many things, right? Is, is, was that foremost on your mind? Or at least on your mind, as you as you kind of crafted this mission? And then, and then tell me about how you bring that to life? as you, as you reflect on what's on, you know, what's in black letter and what's on paper?
Inge van den Berg 11:03
Yeah. And certainly, I think there are so many organizations now that need to have a purpose beyond delivering profits, right? It, it really is, it's a way to attract the best talent, it's the way to connect with all of the stakeholders, and really is mutually beneficial. That's ultimately what will help Cadillac Fairview, our communities, our customers, our clients thrive is when we're working on something that will benefit all stakeholders in how we operate. And so, I think it really is that, that evolution and, and, you know, the way it comes to life is so different, as the business environment continues to change, and be it, we can consider that vibrant tomorrow from an environmental perspective, also from a social perspective. And so, that's really why we also have incorporated our responsibility strategy into our overall strategic plan, because we think that, that also helps us to deliver against our purpose of transforming communities for a vibrant tomorrow.
Michael LeBlanc 12:22
Well, let's talk about that. It's good segue, the sustainability, the environmental footprint, you, you have a massive physical footprint. How does your thinking around the environment and as you say, these were trends that were happening in the before time, some have been accelerated by the COVID era, some created and some gone away, but as you reflect on your mission and this purpose, and how does it, how do you think about that, from an environmental perspective? I mean, one small example I love looking at the honeybee hives that that often popup, because you know, I just I just, you know, they're very calming, as you kind of look at them, but it's a small thing. And I'm sure you do both small things and big things. So, tell me about how these two things stitch together in your team?
Inge van den Berg 13:05
No, certainly and, and I'll have to get you a jar of that honey, because that also tastes really great, that would be great. But, you know, Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators, and developers of real estate in the country. And so, as I had mentioned, we really have that heritage of seeing growth and opportunity, when we create those communities, in the spaces that we operate in, and so really, we have to make sure that we have the appropriate sustainability principles that, you know, not only address and ensure environmental benefits, but that we deliver value to our clients, our shoppers, and the occupants of our building. So, I mean, certainly, climate change, I mean, it continues to make headlines, you know, across the world, I mean, devastating, costly effects, right, albeit extreme weather patterns, record breaking temperatures, wildfires, flooding, and
Michael LeBlanc 14:11
There's no vaccine for that to get us out of trouble, like the way, the way is going to do for COVID. Right? I often say that, as you know, we've just gone through, hopefully, we're pretty close to the end, or what looks like the end of the COVID era. But you know, we're nowhere near the end of climate change, which could have, you know, vastly farther, more reaching, and it's, it's you know, I connected back to something you said earlier in the interview. I mean, if you think about just the Toronto property, you know, it's massive, right, you occupy a lot of physical space, right?
Inge van den Berg 14:40
Right. It's, it's true and, and so what we want to make sure of is that we're very much focused on the low carbon community transformation and making sure that we are not only reducing our carbon impact, ensuring that we are reducing waste, making efficiency of the resources that we have to use to run those large properties. But we also are making sure that we're building resilience to, you know, those extreme weather events and climate change. I mean, we were the first ones first Canadian real estate company to establish a national sustainability operations program back in 2008, called ‘Green at Work’ that has targets for our various uses of resources and focused on waste reduction. So, that, that's been a long-standing tradition that Cadillac Fairview has.
Michael LeBlanc 15:48
Yeah, you're definitely an early mover in that space. From my, from my recollection, it's, it's, it's pretty interesting. And I guess with your role that, that last part of that second part of your description, risk, I mean, it must be foremost on the list of all the various risks as environmental risk, right? I mean, and you think, I'm sure you, you think in your team decades. You don't think next year, we're going to talk about next year, but you don't you think far, far out because, again, the decisions that the organization makes have far reaching implications, right?
Inge van den Berg 16:22
Absolutely correct. And, and you know, as we said, it's, it's a decade's long impact. I mean, our Toronto Dominion Center, it's over 50 years, like these are permanent, you know, landmarks. And so, yes, always focused on emissions reduction and energy usage reduction, waste diversion. These are all things that you know, every company needs to focus on, and we often partner with many of our clients to you know, do this because it's not ourselves, it's, it's actually working with our, our office clients, etc., to achieve some of the successes that we've been able to.
Michael LeBlanc 17:06
It's interesting because I, I know that oftentimes cooling your buildings, the office buildings are more expensive than heating them, which is kind of counterintuitive until you start thinking about it and you know, projects like bringing in cold water from under Lake Ontario, very innovative, right, a very innovative projects into downtown and,
Inge van den Berg 17:24
(inaudible) Thank you. It's a partnership that we have exactly, as you said, taking cold water from Lake Ontario through Enwave Energy and, and we use that water, deep water, deep, deep lake water cooling technology to really fuel our downtown Toronto offices, and CF Toronto Eaton Center. And so, that has helped significantly in quite an innovative approach, as we've had that for a few years now.
Michael LeBlanc 17:54
So, I didn't realize it reached up to in some way shape, or form CF Eaton Center, talk about that for a bit. I under, I knew the cooling part, but tell me how that factors in.
Inge van den Berg 18:04
So, if you were to come on a tour with us, you would see in the loading bank areas, etc., you will see the pipes where that water comes through, and actually quite a few empty, certain boiler rooms, etc. Because through all of the transition, we have continued to retrofit and make sure that we leverage that, you know, the new innovations to really, for our buildings to operate much more efficiently, both from cost but also,
Michael LeBlanc 18:38
Sure, sure,
Inge van den Berg 18:39
and you know, sustaining the environment.
Michael LeBlanc 18:41
Yeah, live, living and living the mission. Listen, I can't have you on the mic without your thoughts and the organization's thoughts about this COVID era and foremost in my community, the retailer community I guess all of us were trying to figure out what the you know what consumer behaviors and what, what strategies were an adjustment to a most unusual time versus some of the things that might stick around post COVID.I mean, for example, we know there was a great acceleration for eCommerce it's kind of ebbing off now, you know back to normal growth so to speak any, anything top of mind for you that as you think about, you think about your property, your stakeholders from your perspective that you said you know what, I think this, this you know, this happened but it's probably going to go away because it was so weird, but other things might stick around how do you, how do you even begin to think about that in a, in a you know, in a four part matrix as a consultant, you know, this is, this is, this is important and this has impact you know, box on the, on the matrix.
Inge van den Berg 19:40
So, it's, it's true, I mean, even before the pandemic, but certainly throughout and continuing now. We always assess kind of what are the impacts to you know, I think what all, of all of the listeners will hear is an ever-changing retail landscape, right? I mean, certainly eCommerce existed before. But what we always want to make sure is that we make sure that our customers and our clients are our top priority.
And we always want to make sure that we have heightened differentiated in-mall experiences, you know, yes was best in class mix. But also, what we did notice through the pandemic, understandably, as you know, doors were temporarily closed and, and shoppers and workers and the public stayed away. Yes, we had lower traffic levels versus the pre-COVID times. And certainly, you know, from an environmental standpoint, that meant we had lower usage of electricity, water etcetera. But that continued, still our sustainability efforts.
But what we also did during that time, is it actually did really speed up some of the integration of the digital tools that we had at our retail centers. So, offering things like a CF guestlist, which is online management tool. You know, when, when people came back, also, the you know the LiVE by CF, it's an app that allows shoppers to pre-shop and navigate our centers. We have a partnership with a company called Return Bear that helps facilitate eCommerce returns within our shopping centers. Now that's at CF Toronto Eaton Center and CF Fairview Mall right now.
So, we certainly always wanted to ensure that we have alternatives for customers to make the shopping experience easier. But we've really focused on the safety and security in our centers, and did that by making sure that capacity levels were as, is mandated, all of the health and safety standards of cleaning and mask wearing, etc., and supporting our, our retailers and our clients by having people at the doors ensuring that we have, you know, the right processes in place to ensure that everyone has a safe experience, but then also really trying to have people enjoy those experiences.
Because even now, as stores have reopened, we've certainly seeing people are coming back much more purpose driven, a lot of you know, it's resulting in higher level of sales per trip and, and really, everyone wants to come back and, and enjoy those experiences. And so, we certainly are focused on you know, at the, with the right level of safety, and security, having those elevated levels of, of service that will welcome people back into our centers.
So, we've created a lot of welcome back excitement programs. And yes, some of them being some gift card promotions, etc. But really some, you know, largest patios at Sherway, that allowed people to come back and eat safely. And I'm working with our retailers now. Because I know that they've been impacted, you know, by finding it challenging for, you know, getting staffing in their stores. So, we're creating job fairs at some of our centers to help them with that all while, socially distanced appropriately so that applicants and retailers can, you know, get that support from us. So, that they can, you know, resume more their regular operations as well.
Michael LeBlanc 23:28
Yeah, finding people I was, I was hosting a Retail Council of Canada conference yesterday, and the President of Birks was on, and he was talking about both the opportunities and the challenges and, and as you said, finding people for him because he's, you know, he needs talented salespeople at his kiosks. And yeah, one of his biggest limitations wasn't supply, in his world, it was a little bit, but it was finding people and you'd never, you know, never seen it the way it is. So, there's no shortage of challenges and opportunities and all these kind of things going on all at the same time.
And what's, I what's the future? What's, talk about how you thinking about the future? I mean, basically, we've had a very big future conversation, but where, were your role, your team when you focused on next? As if this is all enough, but as if there hasn't been enough change, point me to a little bit to the future.
Inge van den Berg 24:21
Yeah. So, what we're very excited about is, in the past year, we did revisit and redefined our responsibilities strategy with four core pillars. So, certainly focus as we talked a lot about our planet and our communities, but also our people and our partners. And what we realized is that focusing on corporate responsibility can't be a separate initiative. It has to be just the way that Cadillac Fairview conducts its business. And so, it's embedded into our strategic plan. We have leaders, business leaders from across the organization, responsible for it. And, you know, not only does Cadillac Fairview continue to revisit and appropriately adjusted strategic plan, but inherent in that, is also revisiting the business environment, the impacts to make sure that we are focused on the right responsibility aspects. And, and what we're excited about, we had not necessarily done this in the past across all of those four areas. But we're working on defining our targets, both near term and long term and working collaboratively to really achieve those. So, some of them are certainly going to be quite the stretch targets. So, we're going to share those next year. We're just refining them now. So, we're quite excited that we're really sharing more externally and broadly with our stakeholders, what we're focused on, and there's certainly Michael, you know, a myriad of opportunities that we can, we can address.
Michael LeBlanc 26:03
Well, it's a great way to leave off today because I think there's so much, we had to get done during the COVID era, as you say, keep our people safe, keep customers safe. And, you know, innovation is coming. In other words, the, the time for, for keeping the businesses going and, and making sure everyone's safe is starting to, starting to wane. And now that real innovation can just burst out, thanks to those 18 months of trying to figure out what's changed.
Inge, thanks for joining me on the, on the podcast it has been a real treat. Last, I guess last question is where can people go to learn more? Is there more around the details of, of the role of human connection and the new purpose? Can they go read a little bit more on it somewhere?
Inge van den Berg 26:45
Absolutely. And, and Michael, it's been my pleasure. And so, anyone that wants to learn more about Cadillac Fairview in general, but also our latest responsibility report, should visit Cadillacfairview.com. And you will see access there to all of those recent news articles about new accomplishments and, and also our responsibility report.
Michael LeBlanc 27:09
Very good. Well, Inge, thanks again for joining me on The Voice of Retail. It is a real treat to meet you and chat about such an important element of the retail ecosystem. I wish you continued success and, and I look forward to your continuing and ongoing reports and all the great work you're doing. So, thanks again.
Inge van den Berg 27:27
Likewise, Michael, it was my pleasure to share some perspectives today. A little bit information on Cadillac Fairview, and looking forward to connecting again.
Michael LeBlanc 27:37
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure and follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts. So, you don't miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review as it really helps us grow. So, that we continue to get amazing guests onto the show.
Michael LeBlanc 27:55
I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co
Michael LeBlanc 28:05
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
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