CoreSight Sees Light in Malls’ Future (It’s Bright)
Yearning for good news?!? A leading retail research analyst is bullish on malls! Coresight Research recently released a report that examines the turbulent atmosphere around American malls, offering a comprehensive understanding of them, and helping brands and retailers make better decisions. The report delves into several case studies, examples and brands (including apparel brand Untuckit, travel DNV (digitally native vertical) brand Away, apparel brand Express, Simon Property Group, and Canadian REIT Cadillac Fairview), concluding that, despite media reports to the contrary, “Physical retail, in combination with e-commerce, has the potential to produce a halo effect for brands that can drive sales, reduce customer acquisition costs, improve margins and meet evolving consumer demand.” DMM’s data can get you all the property details you need, including consumer profiles/segmentation, visitor activity for thriving properties, and more. Click here to get started!
Case Study: Mixed-Use on the Rise in Durham, NC
The city of Durham, North Carolina, is betting on mixed-use complexes in a big way. Several new large-scale projects are underway in the city, part of an overall effort to revitalize the downtown area, right in the heart of the state. Among them, a large local manufacturer’s expansion project, an affordable housing complex near the urban center, and a re-imagining of The Streets at Southpoint, a shopping center that’s getting a makeover. The News & Observer recently reported that the local city council voted to rezone its 132-acre piece of property, paving the way for Brookfield Properties to “build up to 10 stories high and more than double the shopping center’s square footage.” The project is expected to include more than 13-hundred apartments, a hotel, office space and more retail offerings.
Familiar with A.I.? It Can Be Used in Retail for Good (Not Just Dopey TikTok Videos or by Test Cheaters)
Your humble e-newsletter editor can remember the first time he encountered Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). It was the similarly-named Steven Spielberg movie from 2001 starring the kid from “The Sixth Sense” (he saw dead people) as a robot boy yearning to become real. While the implications in the film were frightening, the reality today is that A.I. is being used quite a bit, to analyze data and make it “real,” something that can be used for good. While we often hear about how students use it to cheat on tests or write papers for them, or how it’s being used to create creepy videos of celebrities, it can also be used in positive ways, and retail is no exception. A recent article on Startups.co.uk noted how it is being used to deliver “highly personalized experiences.” When used in a retail environment, it can automate the collection of data to improve each customer’s experience. As an example, writer Fernanda Alvarez Pineiro noted that, “North Face uses IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology to ask customers questions that will lead them to their perfect coat. Through personalized recommendations, customers can rest assured that their coat selection will be the right choice for their activities.”
What would you use A.I. to do, or what are you already using A.I. to do to drive your business forward? Tell us at by DM’ing us via Twitter!
Spotlight on a Top 10 Growth Market Center:
The Gateway
Gross Leaseable Retail Area
708,968 sq. ft.
Year Opened
2001
Retailers Include
Clark Planetarium, 'Bout Time Pub & Grub, White Agent Bridal, La Barba Coffee, Apothica, Headgate Studios
According to the trade area analysis available on ShoppingCenters.com:
- Primary Market Population: 1,538,488
- Average Household Income: $116,691
- Number of Households: 520,041
- Average Shopper Age: 35.8
- Projected Five-year Income Growth: 19.14%
Two of the Top 5 PRIZM® consumer segments at The Gateway include: Multi-Culti Families: (age 25-44, they represent a Midscale Younger Family Mix, eat at Jack in the Box, and shop at Bloomingdale’s) and Aspiring A-Listers: (age 55+, lower midscale older mostly with no kids, they own an Audi and have a high interest in Professional boxing). More details on segmentation can be found here.
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Opportunities Abound in Others’ Misfortune
The ashes of some well-known retailers are leading to fantastic opportunities for landlords, developers, and even retailers, large, and not-so-large. We recently posted an informative article on this trend from retail real estate communications specialist, Debra Hazel, the President of Debra Hazel Communications. In the article, linked here, Debra noted that retailers “opened more stores than they closed in 2022.”
Anchor space, she notes, poses major challenges – and opportunities. What do you do with that empty Sears or JCPenney? Our data shows nearly five-thousand vacant anchor spaces totaling approximately 302 million square feet at DMM tracked properties
If you find yourself in that predicament, you also still want to know who visits those shopping centers that may have an empty anchor, that can certainly help guide you into how to replace that space with one that meets the current demographics of the market which might have changed through the years. For example, a shift to an experiential type tenant such as “Seismique,” which attracts visitors of a younger demographic who will travel a greater distance to experience the “Instagramable” art museum. The good news is, DMM has the tools to help.
- DMM has combined the “Where” with “Who” to make sure your analytics lead to the right consumers.
- We’ve leveraged PRIZM, the leading consumer profile and lifestyle behavior metrics from Claritas, Inc® to rank the top consumer contributors to the retail success of a center.
- Our robust, customized data gives you a deeper understanding of WHO the shopping center customer is, providing retail leasing and planning advantages when attracting new tenants and new customers.
Click here to learn more about our Retail Traffic & Segmentation data enhancements. Then contact us today for more details and to request a trial access account on ShoppingCenters.com!
