For a commercial real estate developer like NewQuest, accurate retail location data is crucial. It powers everything from their brokerage team’s deals to their development strategy.
For SRS Real Estate Partner’s national research team, keeping retail location data current used to mean building it themselves, one website at a time. There was no shortcut — just a handful of technically trained staff running in-house web scrapers, each one custom-built for a retailer’s particular quirks.
“We really had nothing before. How many times would leadership look at a map and ask for x,y, and z data? Then we’d realize we don’t have x, y, and z, so we’d have to go build it, which could take us a whole day.” - Carrie Wilson, Direct of National Research
To stay ahead of client requests, the team often built out large datasets for multiple markets in advance — practical, but a real drag on time and resources. That changed once ChainXY came into the picture.
With ChainXY, the manual scraping was replaced by automated access to a continuously updated database. “The data your platform provides integrates really well with our systems. We no longer have to have individuals with certain expertise to be able to scrape this stuff manually,” said Ryan Tharp, SVP of Research and Client Technology.
ChainXY’s integration with ArcGIS Online took things a step further, syncing data straight into the team’s maps in real-time. No more downloading files, no more re-uploading to keep things current —just maps that stay up to date on their own. For a team juggling recurring projects, Ryan says it’s one of the features they lean on most.
“When you think about it, now I have an additional attribute I can map,” Ryan said, pointing to ChainXY’s temporal data— a running history of store openings, closings, and expansions. That history turns into strategy: the team can spot whether a brand tends to expand into major markets first or target specific regions, giving both SRS Real Estate Partners and their brokers a clearer read on where a retailer is headed next.
Accuracy matters just as much as history.“With ChainXY, you get us about 90 percent of the way there,” Ryan noted — data that comes close to Google Places-level precision, without the Google Places price tag. ChainXY’s crowd-sourced feedback feature closes even more of that gap over time.
“It’s a fantastic feature that if something’s wrong, you can make an adjustment, and that point stays accurate for future updates.” - Ryan Tharp
Good data is only half the story — the other half is what happens when something needs fixing. Nick Turner,Senior National Research Manager, values having a small, dedicated support team instead of an impersonal ticketing queue. “It’s always been a pretty quick turnaround from the time that I email to the time that your team responds,” he said. Ryan agrees: “I’ve never experienced anything other than professionalism from your team. They’re quick, clear, and very helpful.” When the team flagged that they’d like faster updates around major retail news — large-scale store closures, for instance — ChainXY adjusted its update schedules to catch those changes sooner.
That responsiveness carries over into how flexible the platform is day to day. “It’s incredibly useful,” Carrie said.“For instance, with Walmart, we can filter down to ‘Supercenters’ or ‘Neighborhood Markets’ only, so we’re not including irrelevant locations.”Syncing select chains automatically keeps specific datasets current without manual refreshes — something Nick says “has been huge for us in saving time and keeping things current without any extra steps.”
It’s also made ramping up new hires easier. “When we bring on new researchers, they’re able to get the data they need almost immediately,” Carrie said. Ryan added, “Your platform is simple enough that even if someone has questions, the support page and your video resources make it easy to get answers.”
At the end of the day, it’s about results!
“Just having this data at our fingertips has been invaluable. We can move faster, make better maps, and offer better insights to our clients.” - Carrie Wilson
Ready to unlock the power of data-driven decisions? Book a demo to see what ChainXY’s data can do for your team.
For a commercial real estate developer like NewQuest, accurate retail location data is crucial. It powers everything from their brokerage team’s deals to their development strategy.
7 min read
For SRS Real Estate Partner’s national research team, keeping retail location data current used to mean building it themselves, one website at a time.
7 min read
