Michael J. Cortazzo
Michael J. Cortazzo has more than 40 years of experience with retail and office tenants of all shapes and sizes. From mom-and-pop restaurant owners to Fortune 500 apparel companies with more than $3 billion in annual sales, Michael is able to find the perfect real estate fit for them all.
Over his storied career, Michael has completed more than 500 new store real estate transactions and more than 1.5 million square feet of office transactions worldwide. This includes deals in New York City, London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico and Shanghai. Michael’s vast expertise accommodates retailers the world over because he understands commerce is a global market regardless of your business’ physical location. As we know, a sophisticated, well-executed strategy must be in place for today’s retailers to successfully execute technology, ecommerce and omnichannel initiatives. Michael offers the trifecta, having spent his career, rolling out point of sale (POS) systems to more than 900 stores, spearheading R&D initiatives for mobile POS, overseeing customer service call centers, and managing the creation, installation and implementation of labor management systems, Shoppertrak in-store customer traffic tools, Cognos database reporting tools and mobile video training solutions.
His 15 years as senior director of store operations for American Eagle Outfitters has allowed Michael to understand a company’s needs and changing technologies, empathizing with their challenges while capitalizing on their strengths. Michael has been responsible for profits and loss statements on more than 900 retail stores with a payroll budget of $150 million. He has also managed 7.5 million square feet of store, office and distribution center facilities, while executing corporate directives at the store level, which includes sales, customer service, training and floor sets.
Michael’s talents were further honed as Senior Director of Real Estate and Facilities for American Eagle Outfitters as it expanded from two stores to a company with multiple brands in more than 25 countries, opening 100 to 150 new stores per year under his watch. During this time, the company also doubled its average store sales volume.
Michael works with his clients on a very personal level, guiding their endeavors from thought development through physical development to the expansion phase. Michael’s successes are his client’s successes, which means his number one goal is to oversee all aspects of a concept, ensuring the project is completed on time and under budget.
