Consumer Real Estate Canada

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CREC
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Was Charles Dickens a Canadian retailer during 2021 in another life? We don’t know for sure, but his famous quote is resonating in this sort of, ‘Winter of despair’ among those in the consumer real estate industry. A group of us have been gathering monthly over the past 18 months on a cross-Canada roundtable conference call of market conditions & trends that I am pleased to moderate. This community of industry practitioners has morphed into Consumer Real Estate Canada (CREC). CREC is a Canadian, volunteer supported, industry trade organization dedicated to engagement & education by Canadians for Canadians. There are no membership fees, and all retailers, food service professionals, e-commerce merchants, economic development professionals, retail space brokers, building owners & developers and industry suppliers are welcome participate.
The genesis of the monthly CREC roundtable conference call on retail market conditions & trends in Canada was to provide a discussion forum for Canadian consumer real estate professionals and to keep everyone connected in these challenging times. It is a good network of consumer real estate colleagues across the country that contribute to the call on a regular basis along with a guest presenter on each call. The call started when the Pandemic lockdown hit in the spring of 2020 as a way for consumer real estate practitioners to exchange ideas, information on our various markets, share industry trends and knowledge with others. This is a good platform to keep informed and enjoy the camaraderie that our industry provides. Watch for updates on CREC right here as we navigate through these interesting times in 2025 in retail the real estate industry in Canada!