Progressive Real Estate Partners SVP Roxanne Klein on Southern California retail leasing, tenant trends, lease negotiation blind spots, and why not all franchisees are created equal.

Crexi Platinum Award-winner Roxy Klein spent 20-plus years building sales instincts running a candy manufacturing business across 30 states before finding her way into commercial brokerage. Today she is SVP of Retail Leasing and Sales at Progressive Real Estate Partners, the number one retail firm in the Inland Empire, specializing in landlord representation and leasing across Southern California.

In this episode, Roxy joins host Yannis Papadakis on what is moving in SoCal retail, why footprints are shrinking, what CC&Rs and amperage issues are quietly killing deals, and why she backs a 20-year mom-and-pop over a franchise tenant with no business experience.

• Welcome to The Crexi Podcast
• Roxy Klein's background and path to Progressive Real Estate Partners
• From candy manufacturing and trade shows to commercial brokerage
• No playbook: learning retail CRE from a 35-year mentor
• Why retail: combining business, merchandising, and real estate
• The value of specializing at a firm that only does retail
• Boutique versus big shop: why entrepreneurial spirit matters
• Landlord rep versus tenant rep: why listing agreements mean security
• Watching retail go from dirt to grand opening
• Balancing prospecting: door-to-door, phone, social, in-person
• Why you have to walk into the store before you prospect it
• Building relationships with national brands through ACRE
• Independent pharmacies filling former Rite Aid boxes
• Head spas, beauty tenants, and the risk of over-broad use clauses
• Footprints are shrinking — and rent is the reason
• Car washes, drive-through ground leases, and demo opportunities
• Why drive-throughs dominate: convenience, speed, busy families
• Coffee is the hottest category — drive-through and independent
• Large full-service restaurants: very few players left
• Minimum wage, inflation, and which food tenants are on pause
• SoCal vacancy: low but rising, and the spaces dragging the number up
• Keep an open mind, respond fast, don't wait for a better offer
• CC&Rs blocking gyms, car washes, and entertainment
• Amperage: the deal killer nobody checks until it's too late
• Use clauses, exclusives, and inherited lease problems
• How lease renewals create waiver negotiating leverage
• Three things new retail brokers must know before their first assignment
• Rapid fire: $10M into a multi-tenant asset close to home
• How to spot a fad before it becomes your vacancy
• Don't get caught up in the franchise name — vet who's signing
• Parting words: stick with it, and call Roxy

Watch “Roxanne Klein on Leasing SoCal Retail in a Tight & Shifting Market” on YouTube

Roxanne “Roxy” Klein is the Senior Vice President of Retail Leasing & Sales at Progressive Real Estate Partners, specializing in the leasing and sale of retail properties in Southern California’s Western Inland Empire, Eastern San Gabriel Valley, and Northern Orange County. With over 20 years of real estate and business management experience, Roxy’s expertise includes leasing, sales, client relations, landlord and tenant representation, contract negotiation, research, and marketing.

Roxy has completed transactions with a wide range of corporate retailers, including brands like Sprouts, Chipotle, Dunkin’, Circle K, Broken Yolk Café, Capriotti’s, Visionworks, Five Below, and American Family Care, among many others.

Roxy graduated from the University of La Verne with a Bachelor of Science in Business, Marketing, and Law. She is on the ACRE So Cal (Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives of Southern California) board, where she has served in various leadership roles, including President in 2024, and Vice President in 2023; Roxy is also the Best Practice Chair for RIAOC (Realty Investment Association of California), a role she is currently serving for the fourth consecutive year and a Captain on the Retail Brokers Network Restaurant Council. She also is a Crexi Platinum Award winner for 2026.

About Crexi’s Commercial Real Estate Podcast:

Crexi’s podcast features conversations across all aspects of commercial real estate with industry leading investors, developers, brokers, and professionals. Among the top 5% of commercial real estate podcasts, The Crexi Podcast sits down with industry experts to investigate trends, educate listeners, and uncover the latest happenings and news in the world of commercial real estate. To listen to all episodes for free, check out The Crexi Podcast's full library here.

Crexi is reimagining commercial real estate with an AI-powered platform built to deliver smarter, more efficient solutions at every stage of the deal lifecycle. From real-time data and market insights with Crexi Intelligence, to targeted property marketing and seamless deal management through Crexi PRO, and a transparent, time-bound bidding experience with Crexi Auction— Crexi enables users to evaluate opportunities, maximize exposure, and close with speed and confidence. To date, Crexi has subsidized over $2.74 trillion in property value, 26 billion square feet listed, and supports a growing community of more than 23 million yearly users.