Andy Sehremelis on Reading a Market Before Developing Retail

By Andy Sehremelis · October 30, 2026

Andy Sehremelis has developed, built and operated retail properties in Southern California for more than three decades, including restaurants, gas stations and express car washes. As a licensed real estate broker and the founder of Parkcrest Construction in Chino, he has seen that the success of a retail property depends on how well the market was understood before development began.

Andy Sehremelis on Starting With the Customer

Market analysis begins with the people a property will serve. Population, household composition, income, employment and growth trends within a reasonable drive time indicate the kind of retail demand an area can support. A neighborhood with many young families supports different businesses than an area dominated by commuters or office workers.

Understanding daily routines is equally important. Where residents work, shop, attend school and travel determines when and how they will use a retail property.

Andy Sehremelis on Traffic and Access

Traffic counts indicate how many vehicles pass a site, but the direction and purpose of that traffic matter as much as the volume. A gas station often benefits from morning commuter traffic, while restaurants may depend on lunch and evening trips. Express car washes tend to draw customers on routes they already travel.

Access determines whether passing traffic can become customers. Turning movements, median breaks, signal locations and driveway spacing all influence how easily a driver can enter and leave a property.

Andy Sehremelis on Competition

Every market has existing businesses serving its customers. Mapping competitors, noting their age, condition, pricing and offerings, and observing their busiest periods helps identify both saturation and opportunity. A market with several aging operators may have room for a modern, well-run alternative.

Competition is not always negative. Clusters of retail and restaurant uses often draw more customers to an area than any single business could on its own.

Andy Sehremelis on Visibility and Site Characteristics

Visibility from the road, signage opportunities, parcel shape and size, and the ability to accommodate parking and circulation all affect how well a retail use will perform. Some sites that look attractive on a map do not work once building, parking and drive-thru or queuing requirements are laid out.

Early test layouts help determine whether a particular use fits a property before significant money is committed.

Andy Sehremelis on Local Knowledge

Data provides a foundation, but local knowledge fills in what reports cannot show. Time spent at a property at different hours and on different days reveals traffic patterns, customer behavior and neighborhood character. Conversations with nearby business owners and brokers add context about how the area has changed.

Decades of working in the Inland Empire and across Southern California give a developer a reference point for comparing one market with another.

Andy Sehremelis on Growth and Change in a Market

Markets are not static. Residential growth, new employment centers, road improvements and shifts in shopping habits can change the demand for retail over time. A developer should consider not only how a market looks today but how it is likely to look over the life of the building.

Areas of the Inland Empire have changed considerably over the past three decades as population and employment have grown. Observing those patterns over time helps a developer distinguish between lasting change and short-term trends.

Andy Sehremelis on Tenant and Operator Perspective

Retail property ultimately depends on the businesses that occupy it. Understanding what tenants and operators need, including parking, visibility, access, building size and co-tenancy, helps a developer design a property that attracts strong businesses and keeps them.

As a licensed real estate broker and an operator of restaurants, gas stations and express car washes, Andy Sehremelis approaches market analysis from both sides of the transaction. That combination keeps the focus on whether a property will support a successful business, which is the measure that matters most to owners, tenants and lenders alike.

Andy Sehremelis on Matching the Use to the Market

The final step is matching the right use to the market that exists, rather than the market an owner hopes for. A property may be better suited to a quick-service restaurant than a sit-down concept, or to a gas station with a strong convenience store than to a stand-alone retail building.

Disciplined market analysis reduces risk for owners, lenders and tenants. It is the step that connects real estate decisions to the long-term performance of the businesses that occupy a property.