Rick Caruso | Founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso
Oct 23, 2023
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Rick Caruso, founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso®, discusses his evolution in the real estate business, creating unique retail properties like The Grove. He emphasizes the importance of excellent customer service and creating a positive guest experience. The chapter also explores his expansion into apartments, hospitality, and office building ownership. Additionally, it highlights his involvement in public service, addressing homelessness, and his philanthropic work in healthcare and education. Valuable advice for young people entering the real estate industry is shared, along with the role of innovation.
Providing excellent guest experiences is crucial in the real estate and retail industry, emphasizing the need to create profitable platforms that prioritize guest engagement.
Combining different types of businesses in outdoor settings can lead to the creation of vibrant lifestyle centers that prioritize guest experiences and offer a mix of retail, entertainment, and amenities.
Creating joyful environments that replicate a sense of community and liveliness, along with exceptional customer service and continuous reinvestment, can result in longer guest stays and increased spending.
Deep dives
The Importance of Guest and Customer Experience
Rick Caruso emphasizes the significance of providing excellent guest and customer experiences in the real estate and retail industry. He explains that while the customer (such as Nordstrom or Tiffany) is his client, their customers are the guests who visit the properties. Caruso highlights the importance of creating a platform that allows clients to be profitable and engage their guests, while also focusing on delivering a great guest experience through elements like greetings, aesthetics, and amenities.
The Evolution of Caruso's Development Thinking
Caruso discusses how his development thinking evolved over time, starting with traditional indoor malls and gradually incorporating innovative concepts. He shares his breakthrough moment with the Promenade of Westlake, where he combined different types of businesses in an outdoor setting. This led to the creation of vibrant lifestyle centers like The Grove and The Americana, which prioritize guest experiences and offer a mix of retail, entertainment, and amenities.
Creating Memorable Places and Enriching Lives
Caruso explains that the core of his business is focused on creating joyful experiences for people and enriching their lives. He highlights the importance of creating an environment where people feel good, stay longer, and willingly spend more. Caruso draws inspiration from places like piazzas in Italy and works to replicate the sense of community and liveliness in his properties. Furthermore, he discusses the impact of providing exceptional customer service, being attentive to guests' needs, and constantly reinvesting in the properties to keep them fresh and appealing.
Balancing Real Estate Development and Philanthropy
Caruso emphasizes the importance of giving back to the community and engaging in philanthropy. He discusses his focus on improving healthcare and education for low-income families in Los Angeles. Caruso explains that his philanthropic efforts go beyond financial contributions and involve actively working with and getting to know the families and children his organization supports. He shares the gratification he experiences through these initiatives and the mutual care and connection that develops between his family and the beneficiaries.
Challenges of West Coast Cities and the Need for Change
Caruso acknowledges the challenges faced by West Coast cities, particularly in areas like homelessness and housing shortage. He emphasizes the need for courageous leaders who prioritize the well-being and safety of residents over political considerations. Caruso believes that change and solutions are possible, but it requires a concerted effort to address complex issues and implement effective policies. He emphasizes the importance of building more housing, especially low-income and sustainable options, in order to tackle homelessness effectively.
Rick Caruso, founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso®, owner of three of the top ten retail centers in the US, discusses the evolution of how he created breakthrough retail properties like The Grove as well as his civic and philanthropic activities in Los Angeles, including his recent run for Mayor.
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