Never Leave your Car… The Garden State… Back to Square One… details in our latest DMM e-news

Grocery Shopping at Walmart – You Never Have to Leave Your Car

Here at the DMM newslettter we often talk about the use of technology to make in-store shopping easier and more appealing so as to better compete with the online experience. Mobile devices and smartphones often are at the center of that movement, but Walmart is taking it – and food shopping – to a whole new level. The company is testing shop-from-home grocery shopping (an industry that a market research report indicated was a $16.7 Billion industry as of 2015) in which customers place orders via the internet (whether PC or mobile device), arrange for pick-up times, and drive to the store location and pick up their order at specially-designed kiosk and pick-up depot. Financial news provider, TheStreet, reports the test has been a success thus far. “About 90% of online grocery users are repeat customers, and more than 90% of the orders include fresh grocery items such as dairy, produce and meat”.

New Projects Spotlight – New Jersey

Optimism abounds in the Garden State as several major shopping malls are among a bunch of giant real estate projects that have been buoyed by recent retail investments. In the June issue of New York real estate magazine, The Real Deal turns its eyes toward its neighbor across the Hudson and found a number of projects that have been given new life thanks to the addition of new financial backing. Even several New Jersey projects that had stalled or were languishing are turning around, leading spectators to look forward to opening days in the future. The article notes that “American Dream Meadowlands, placing third in TRD’s rankings of planned developments, finally seems to be making inroads after years of struggling. First unveiled in 2003, the mega-mall project located by the New York Giants and Jets stadium is on its third developer. There has been a flurry of completed retail leases in 2016.”

When Retailers Close Hundreds of Stores, Does it Help?

We’re not here to tell companies how to run their business. We at DMM offer data to help retailers make their own best decisions. When retailers announce they are closing hundreds of stores to restore profitability, it often makes headlines, not always for positive reasons. Moves like that are leading some to ask: is closing that many stores a realistic way to restore profitability that may have only come around once-in-a-lifetime? Ian Ritter, a retail industry editor and writer, recently blogged about the issue for Hightower, a leasing management platform company. The issue was raised by Green Street Advisors, an independent commercial real estate industry research firm, in a Wall Street Journal report earlier this year. Check out the post and let us know what you think via Twitter or on our contact page.

DMM TECH-TIP: CO-TENANCY

Co-tenancy on your mind? Co-tenancy (co-ten-an-cy, koh-ten-uhn-see) is a noun, defined as “two or more tenants sharing property.” It’s like being back in college and having a roommate. The ShoppingCenters.com Group creation tool can lend a hand in locating co-tenancy partners that might work in your situation. It’s easy! Check it out.