New Retail Platform CUSCO Launches to Connect National Retailers With Rural America

Aims to solve for inefficiencies and capitalize on demand among national retailers to expand across rural markets

CUSCO today announced its formation as a retail real estate platform focused on connecting national retailers with rural America. The company will accomplish this by acquiring and managing high-quality retail properties across in-demand rural markets, as well as providing advisory services to national brands looking to expand into these regions. CUSCO is founded by retail real estate professional John Cusumano, who has extensive experience in secondary and tertiary markets and has cultivated a deep understanding of the real estate operating landscape in rural America.

CUSCO has identified a white space in the retail market as national brands have demonstrated strong demand to expand across smaller rural communities, but most national real estate investors and advisors do not have the knowledge, experience or desire to focus on these areas. Conversely, owners and advisors in local retail markets lack the institutional scale, knowledge or experience to provide the level of service and access these retailers require to advance their real estate objectives. CUSCO aims to bridge that gap, bringing institutional ownership, management and advisory to markets that lack it across the South, Southeast and Midwest.

“Where most of my peers see ‘flyover country,’ I see a compelling supply/demand gap and significant opportunity to solve a problem,” said Cusumano. “Rural communities are no less in need of convenient access to their daily essentials than anyone else, and the brands I’ve worked with – including Five Below, AT&T, Great Clips, Jersey Mike’s, T-Mobile and EyeMart, among others – understand this and desire to get closer to the hearts of these areas. I have spent my career operating in these markets and working with national brands, and I look forward to building an institutional platform capable of helping brands effectively scale and delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns.”

CUSCO enjoys longstanding relationships with many leading national and regional necessity-based retailers, capital partners and commercial real estate brokerages, which support its long-term strategy to build a platform that is capable of producing consistent and sustainable cash flow growth. Rental income from its real estate portfolio will be complemented by a comprehensive suite of advisory services for local and regional landlords to support lease-up, asset management and property management strategies.

A core example of the national brands CUSCO intends to serve is T-Mobile. Since its merger with Sprint in 2019, the company has demonstrated significant growth in rural communities, having established a goal of expanding its market share across rural America. Lowes has also publicly declared rural markets as key targets for expansion as it rolls out its one-stop-shop store concept tailor made for these regions.

Cusumano has spent his entire career in the retail industry. Before launching CUSCO, he served as the Vice President of Real Estate at MRP Capital Group, where he played a key role in acquiring large portfolios of Walmart shadow centers totaling more than 70+ properties valued at over $250 million. Cusumano managed a team handling approximately 250 transactions per year, construction projects totaling $3 million per year, and helped navigate the company’s portfolio through the pandemic. Prior to MRP, he spent time in the Landlord & Advisory Services group at CBRE. Cusumano is an active member and participant in ICSC.

About CUSCO

CUSCO is a retail real estate platform focused on connecting national retailers with rural America by acquiring and managing high-quality retail properties across in-demand rural markets, as well as providing advisory services to national brands looking to expand into these regions. The firm aims to bridge the gap between the national and regional retailers that are increasingly seeking to expand to rural communities and the institutional real estate platforms that are not investing in or focusing on these areas, creating an institutional platform capable of helping brands effectively scale and delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors. For more information, visit https://cuscostl.com/.

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