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RETAIL REVIEW 72 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • May 2017 work typically between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet," says Stein. "We look for a high income demographic — which typ- ically means $100,000 households and above — and a high education level, pref- erably with a bachelors degree or higher." When scouting new locations VERTS also looks for more metropolitan areas with heavy work traffic. "Essentially, the denser the area the better," says Stein. "We typically look more for business than residential; the metropolitan areas like Boston and New York City that are densely populated and highly traveled work really well for us." Stein continued to note that the typi- cal VERTS customer is between 18 to 46 years old. "We're frequented by high-in- come, educated daytime customers, which means office employees mainly," says Stein. "We also get a lot of customers who are looking for a healthy alternative to fast food. Our target customers under- stand and appreciate international cui- sine. They're people who have travelled, or understand the value of high-quality food concepts from other parts of the world." VERTS plans to expand by nearly 20 locations this year, including a move to the West Coast. "We are expanding to 45 locations by the end of the year, so lots of new restaurants are coming and we are about to sign a lease contract on the West Coast," says Stein. "We're also planning on expanding into the Chicago area, and we have a lot of new locations planned for the East Coast as well as Texas. Overall, we plan to open 15 to 20 new locations this year and we're really excited and fo- cused on moving to different parts of the country." SCB Reclaimed wood is accented by warm, light colors to give VERTS locations a chef-driven, farm-to-table feel. Sabrina Stimming, Sr. VP sstimming@crec.com Steven Henenfeld, Sr. VP shenenfeld@crec.com