In Salem County, New Jersey, way down at the southern tip of the state, 5.1 million square feet of warehouse space has gone up since 2020, according to CoStar data. The boom has transformed the largely rural South Jersey county into one of the hottest logistics hubs in the state, and with another 2.1 million square feet under construction, and an additional 5.3 million proposed, it doesn’t look like the building spree is ending anytime soon.

On the ground, however, there is a sense that even amid this gold rush, warehouse development is about to hit a wall in Salem County.

“If I were to make a prediction—and I can do that because I don’t know shit…they’re gonna overbuild,” Grant Harris, fourth-generation owner of the Cowtown Farmers Market and Rodeo, located on one of the hottest corridors for warehouse construction, told Retail Brew.

Ryan Curran, a New Jersey-based broker who helped assemble a large property now occupied by Amazon fulfillment centers, said he’s not worried about overbuilding—given that many of the investors involved are generally pretty conservative about where they place their money—but in the short term, the area is hitting its capacity in terms of warehousing.

Keep reading here.—AV

Retailers are leaving billions of dollars on the table due to poor in-store experiences, according to a new study from Forsta.

The customer service technology provider reviewed 50,000 customer reviews of US and UK retailers, and found that 48% of negative reviews were the result of problems with in-store experience such as “mismanaged checkouts” and “unhelpful service.” The potential losses, per Forsta, add up to $262 billion in revenue each year.

Keep reading here.—AV

Some things just go together. Milk and cookies. Fire and ice. Macy’s and activist investors.

Activist investor Barington Capital has secured a position at Macy’s, the struggling department store chain, and wants the company to cut spending and analyze its real estate portfolio, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Barington’s new position was revealed to Macy’s shareholders in a PowerPoint presentation.

That’s the fourth activist push at Macy’s in the last 10 years, according to CNBC.

Keep reading here on CFO Brew.—NP