Conversion of Malls to Include Apartments Trend Picks Up Steam
The headline from a recent CTInsider.com article set the table with the following question: “Suburban Connecticut malls want to add housing, but will people want to live at a shopping center?” It’s a trend that’s been growing of late as people seek more creative housing options, and malls look to offer complementary services other than simply retail. Connecticut Post Mall owner Centennial has seen success at a recent project in Aurora, Illinois, after completing the first phase of an apartment complex at the Fox Valley Mall, enough to warrant an expansion. “We have also seen more leasing velocity at the project than we have in the last five years, because it’s now more relevant to tenants and consumers,” said Whitney Livingston, president of Centennial. If you’re thinking about wading into these waters, make sure you consult DMM’s data first.
Check out the new Anchor store status feature just launched at ShoppingCenters.com, which helps pinpoint closed and vacant anchors with GLA metrics to help you pinpoint properties and opportunities potentially ripe for redevelopment with residential components.
A Hat Tip to Physical Retail: A Major Retailer Shutters Online Store, to Focus on In-Store Shopping
We here at DMM/ShoppingCenters.com have frequently documented the various online retailers that have added a real-world component to their mix (see the next article for more recent online-to-real-world retail movement) including Amazon, Warby Parker, Allbirds, Casper, Bonobos, and Apple. With apologies to the folks at Monty Python, it’s time now for something completely different. HomeGoods has closed its online store. The folks at BusinessInsider.com recently reported that the discount home decor chain would cease its world wide web retail operations after October 21st. “Overall, it [e-commerce] remains a very small percentage of our business,” said John Joseph Klinger, CFO of TJX, owner of HomeGoods.
Streaming Service Looks to Real World for Retail Sales
Online streaming juggernaut, Netflix, often credited with bringing down Blockbuster Video and your local movie rental shops, is making moves into the real world, possibly in 2025. NPR reported last month that the digital entertainment behemoth is planning to open stores in unnamed cities that will offer retail, dining and live entertainment that promote the service’s shows and movies. “We’ve seen how much fans love to immerse themselves in the world of our movies and TV shows, and we’ve been thinking a lot about how we take that to the next level,” said Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP of consumer products, to Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. Netflix has dipped its toe into the retail waters before, including a pop-up eatery called NETFLIX BITES earlier this year in Los Angeles, featuring menu items created by Netflix cooking show chefs. Pop-ups in Paris, Las Vegas and Chicago have hawked items based on their hit show, “Stranger Things.” Netflix didn’t say what will be sold at the new shops. Maybe they’ll include products from Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Goop” lifestyle brand, which, the New York Post reported, recently started offering a less-luxurious wellness line at Target stores.
Spotlight on a Top 10 Growth Market Center:
Coconut Point
Gross Leaseable Retail Area
1,205,436 sq. ft.
Year Opened
2006
Retailers Include
PetSmart, Super Target, Natural Comfort Footwear, Chico's, Starbucks, PANDORA, Sephora, Elite Home Gamerooms, Regal Cinemas
According to the trade area analysis available on ShoppingCenters.com:
- Primary Market Population: 587,559
- Average Household Income: $113,812
- Number of Households: 260,289
- Average Shopper Age: 49.6
- Projected Five-year Income Growth: 10.44%
Two of the Top 5 PRIZM® consumer segments at Coconut Point include: Bright Lights, Li’l City: (they represent an Upper Midscale Younger Family Mix, age 25-44, watch Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc., and listen to Active Rock), and Middleburg Managers: (they represent a Wealthy Middle-Age Family Mix, age <55, own a Honda, and enjoy snowboarding).
Click here for details on improved site selection, center tenancy planning, and target marketing via quick access to segmentation and lifestyle behaviors & preferences.
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Cross-Shopping, Area Visitation and Anchor Store Closing (and Opening) Identifiers Newly Launched @ ShoppingCenters.com
A plethora of new features and data was added to ShoppingCenters.com and the DMM dataset last month. Now it’s easier than ever before to do Cross-Shopping and identify competing centers, analyze visitor traffic metrics, evaluate Trade Area demographics, Area visitation activity, and discover Anchor Store status and vacancy metrics. Even better, it’s easy to use and tight budget-friendly!
Additionally, we’re helping you stay ahead of the trends, especially if you are looking to figure out what to do with a former anchor store (see Article #1). Our data can help you find vacant or shuttered anchor stores and by using the PRIZM segmentation and Claritas trade area demographics, help guide your analysis to answer the question; “What might be the most appropriate uses for them. Apartments? Mixed-use? Logistics centers? Another mall?” The possibilities are endless!
