Everybody wants a perpetual boom, but as we all know it does not always work out that way. Especially in retail.

Renaud Consulting president Henry M. Renaud tells us his firm has carved out a specialty in filling dark, anchor retail spaces.

When a Walmart pulled up stakes in Glen Burnie, Md., several years ago, Renaud worked with the landlord of the space to divide it into multiple storefronts, and brought in a discount retailer called Gabriel Brothers that helped fill approximately 60K SF of the discount retail void that was left behind.

On the other part of the space, comprising approximately 30K SF, Renaud got creative and signed Tractor Supply Co., which serves the area’s agricultural community.

Renaud said it is his willingness to embrace creativity and “think outside the box” that helps his company get deals done.

In Manassas, Va., a Renaud team filled a dark space that had been occupied by a Food Lion with Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore concept, which sells discounted home improvement gear.

Food Lion was still paying rent on their space and Renaud negotiated a termination to the lease so the space could be filled by the new tenant the day after Food Lion vacated, assuring a continuous inflow of rent for the landlord.

The Renaud team is near finalizing a sublease deal for a dark location of a Food Lion affiliate in Ashburn, Va. The challenge on the deal is to find a sublessee for a space that has been empty for over four years and has a 20-year lease with about 12 years left on it.

They found a subtenant to take the space, and the deal is in the late stages of negotiation.

“We can come in where somebody else has failed and find creative solutions to fill the vacancy,” Renaud said. “But along with the creativity, it takes hard work, attention to detail and relentless follow-up.”

We are thrilled Renaud Consulting has joined us as a sponsor of our Bisnow Beltway Bash, to be held at the TAO Nightclub in the Venetian on Monday, May 22, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Las Vegas. Register here.