Mary Lou Fiala is the president and COO of Regency Centers.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
She is responsible for the operational management of Regency’s retail centers nationwide. “My responsibility is to oversee the total company’s financial profitability with my partner and CEO Martin E. Stein Jr. My primary focus is to oversee the 266 properties we have across the United States of which 87 percent are grocery store anchored shopping centers. We have over $3 billion in total assets. I am also responsible for marketing, legal, human resources.” Regency Centers develops a grocery store-anchored shopping center and then finds tenants to accompany the store. “We do about $4-5 million of development a year.”
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHERE A SHOPPING CENTER NEEDS TO GO?
“We have several shopping centers in Jacksonville. Typically when we are looking at a new market or an area, it is typically driven by the grocer. They have sales figures that they plan on accomplishing their first year of opening. Grocer’s typically do the research and say they can do X amount of sales in year one. Also, we look at what the average household income would be in that market. Our household income in the markets we develop is $75,000 verses a national average household income of $58,000. We also look at population growth over a five-year period and our average population growth in the markets that we have shopping centers in is almost eight percent, where the national average is four and a half percent. If we get great interest from our grocer and our side shops then that’s when we look at developing. So, it really has to do with demographics and interest of the retailers.”
DOES YOUR COMPANY DO DOWNTOWN GROCERY STORES?
“No. We never do downtown grocery stores, we always do neighborhoods. We do larger format shopping centers. Our average shopping center is 111,000 square feet. It’s just not the prototype that we do. It’s not that we wouldn’t ever do it, but it really is not our area of expertise.”
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN DOWNTOWN FOR MORE RETAIL TO MOVE IN?
“Obviously they need more residential. You have to have business and residential and really do a plan that incorporates business, residential and retail all in the same plan because the retailers won’t survive long enough while the rest of it grows. It really needs to be an overall plan.”
DO YOU THINK DOWNTOWN NEEDS A NEW GROCERY STORE?
“If all the residential comes in, then absolutely. If we did it, it would be because Publix wanted to put a grocery store downtown and we would build it for them.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA?
“I think there is still a lot of opportunity. My personal opinion is that we have an opportunity to have a thriving downtown. I think we need to continue to get more businesses downtown, better parking and more residential. Therefore, everything will follow from there in terms of retail. It’s a great downtown; it’s a beautiful downtown and the City just needs to continue as they are and focus on bringing more businesses specifically in the downtown area.”
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE?
Three and a half years ago to work with Regency Centers.
HOW DO YOU LIKE IT HERE?
“I love it here. It’s a great place to live.”
BEFORE REAL ESTATE?
She was senior vice president and director of stores from Macy’s East/Federated Department Stores for 18 and a half years.
HOW LONG HAS SHE BEEN IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
Five years.
HOW DID SHE GET INTO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
“I was recruited by a man by the name of Bill Sanders to Security Capital Global Strategic Group, Inc. five years ago as the managing director.” She was responsible for the development of operating systems for the firm’s retail-related initiatives. That company owns 50 percent of Regency Centers today. “Sanders felt that it was important to have somebody sit on the Regency Centers board and several other of his company’s boards with a retail and management perspective, not just real estate focus. So they hired me and as they merged the two companies Martin Stein asked me to become the president of the company.”
COLLEGE
She has a bachelor’s degree in business/retailing from Miami University in Ohio.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT REAL ESTATE?
“The people that I get to work with, primarily in this company. We have an outstanding organization with a talented group of people. Also, the opportunity to work with people across the country and our customers.”
LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT REAL ESTATE?
“I travel a lot. We have 22 offices across the United States. I’m gone probably three days a week.”
CAREER GROWTH ADVICE?
“I heard this a long time ago from a female president of a company. They asked her how she got to the position she was in and she said, ‘I never worried about my career, I always worried about being the best I could be and doing my job.’ I think that is such good advice.”
BIRTHPLACE
Ohio.
RESIDES
Ponte Vedra Beach.
FAMILY
She and husband Jerry have been married for two and a half years. She has three daughters, Jennifer Miles, 31, and twins Susan and Sarah Rogers, 22. She also has two grandchildren, Drew, 5, and Samantha, 16 months.
CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
She is involved with the United Way and Habitat for Humanity, “We’ve built seven houses in Jacksonville. We have a lot that goes on that I get involved with, but everything is really through company.”
HOBBIES
“We have a second home in the old Ponte Vedra Beach condos so we go out to the beach often. We like it there, so we go take walks on the beach or ride bikes. I read a lot, I love to read books. The rest of the time is spent with my children and grandchildren. Also, my husband and I both like to cook. He is pretty much a gourmet chef and I am his sous chef.”
FAVORITES
“Casablanca” tops her favorite movie list and “Penmarric” by Susan Howatch is her favorite book. When watching television, she prefers Fox News or cooking shows. When dining out, it’s Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis