The International Council of Shopping Centers forecasts a busy holiday season, with 84 percent of U.S. shoppers visiting a mall or shopping center during the holidays, according to its Oct. 4 news release.
“The holidays are a time of tradition and community that makes the mall and the local shopping centers the perfect place to be during the holidays,” Tom McGee, president and CEO of the ICSC, said in a news release. “Retailers are evolving their offerings and presentation to tap into seasonal nostalgia, while still delivering an innovative and convenient experience.”
Thanksgiving weekend is expected to kick off the holiday spending season with a bang, according to the ICSC. Nearly half of the weekend’s shoppers plan to spend more money this year than they did during the same period in 2017, according to the release.
The disappearance of some department store anchors isn’t keeping shoppers away either.
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In August, Sears Holdings announced it was closing another 46 Kmart or Sears stores across the country, adding to the several hundred it closed in recent years. It filed for bankruptcy in October after being in business for more than 130 years.
Other department stores that anchor malls also have struggled in recent years. In August 2016, Macy’s announced it was closing about 100 of its department stores.
But the Simon Property Group of Indianapolis, the real estate company with 190 shopping centers in the U.S., reported good news for its quarter that ended Sept. 30. Its occupancy rate was 95.5 percent and commercial leasing activity had increased from 2017. “For the retailers that are investing in their product, there’s increased sales,” said Simon CEO David Simon, according to an Oct. 19 investor conference call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
He said the leasing environment is better for malls. “There’s more new concepts on the restaurant, entertainment, overall retail,” Simon said. “You’ve got the folks that start out on the internet that want to own physical stores.”
However, he did have some concerns with the closing of the Sears and other anchor boxes. “Maybe our industry got just too carried away with having all these big department store boxes,” he said.
As the shopping centers transition away from anchors, “there’ll be centers that lose in that,” he said. “The reality is the rest of that center … will get healthier and we’re starting to see that.”
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