Exits can bring opportunities.
As retail landlords contend with filling large vacancies created by the exits of department stores, supermarkets are increasingly part of redevelopment plans to draw more foot traffic to the retail sites.
The additions of supermarket tenants often align with mall owners’ plans to redevelop struggling properties or “de-mall” them by converting them to open-air retail centers.
“In the current environment, the universe of department stores and anchors is contracting. The demand in the retail space is not to backfill them with other department stores,” said Eric Bunyan, senior vice president of leasing at The Macerich Co. The Santa Monica, California-based real estate investment trust is planning a redevelopment that will bring an 80,000-square-foot ShopRite supermarket to Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream.
WHAT TO KNOW
- More supermarkets are coming to malls because of opportunities created by the exits of department stores.
- A new ShopRite is planned for Green Acres Mall, a Whole Foods Market will open in 2025 at a redeveloped site called The Shops at SunVet, and Asian grocer 99 Ranch Market opened at Samanea New York in Westbury in 2022.
- Completion of newly built retail spaces in the United States fell to record-low