During a Colorado skiing vacation in March, retail broker Glen Kunofsky went out of his way twice — with wife and twin children in tow — to check out the foot traffic at a Walgreens drugstore. Kunofsky was puzzled by the low sales numbers he'd seen. Professional inquisitiveness got the best of him, so he did some on-site sleuthing.
That kind of curiosity and tenacity are exactly the kind of traits that enabled Kunofsky to complete more than $304.2 million in deals last year. As a result, he captured the 2007 crown as the No. 1 retail investment specialist at Encino, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the second year in a row he has secured that honor.
Aside from being the top retail investment specialist, he was also the top single-tenant retail investment broker at Marcus & Millichap and the number four agent in the company overall. Kunofsky attributes his success to working hard (10 to 12 hours a day on the job, about 10 days a month on the road), adhering to a don't-give-up attitude, setting realistic client expectations and consistently visiting listed properties. Kunofsky says he strives to be honest with clients about the value that can be extracted from a retail property and to “get the skeletons out of the closets first.”
His clients include Burger King franchisee Carrolls Corp., convenience store operator Circle K Stores Inc., restaurant company Golden Corral Corp. and sale-leaseback REIT Spirit Finance Corp. Kunofsky joined Marcus & Millichap in 2001. He is a senior director in the firm's national retail group.
Bernie Haddigan, managing director of Marcus & Millichap's national retail group, says Kunofsky treats the interests of his clients as if they're his own interests. “He's not just order-taking. He's creating value,” Haddigan says.
