The shopping mall once considered the pinnacle of consumerism, has been a much-maligned retail class over the past decade. In a 2017 Credit Suisse report, it was predicted that 1 in 4 malls would be closed by 2022. Ironic that most malls have outlasted that bank. While iconic mall-based retailers like The Sharper Image and KB Toys are long gone, the American mall is far from dead. In a recent study conducted by Coresight Research, it was reported that shopping malls, especially high-end malls, are experiencing positive growth across nearly all key performance indicators and that with omnichannel sales strategies on the rise, these trends are expected to continue into the future.
- In Q1 of 2023, malls accounted for just 5.5% of leasable retail space but accounted for nearly 13% of retail spending.
- In 2022, the vacancy rate in malls stood at less than 5%, aligning with the national averages for all retail spaces.
- Retail spending at malls was up more than 11% YOY in 2022.
- Malls are exceedingly popular during the holidays with more than 40% of survey respondents reporting having visited a mall in the past two weeks.
- Despite the disruption in services caused by COVID-19, foot traffic was up over 12% from 2019 to 2022.
–By Cameron Williams, Director of Research, SVN International Corp.
