DMM Retail Industry e-News Issue #182
Slowly, Carefully, Malls and Retail Start to Emerge Once Again
Some malls and retail outlets have started re-opening in phases around the country or announced plans to do so soon. The Mall at Green Hills and Opry Mills, both in Tennessee, for example, removed furniture to allow for better social distancing and posted signage to remind shoppers social distancing is to be adhered to. “All stores must practice social distancing, not have more than 50 percent capacity, have hand sanitizers readily available, and require workers to wear masks,” noted Alan Frio, reporter for Nashville NBC News 4. In California, retailers were allowed to begin “limited re-openings” earlier this month, including curbside pick-ups at clothing stores, book shops and sporting goods stores. “Indoor shopping experiences are still off-limits,” said Katie Dowd, senior digital editor with SFGATE. Simon Property Group said they were looking to start opening half of its properties malls by mid-May.
No Fear of the Future, Developer Spends $100M to Re-Develop Shopping Center
Pandemic, shmandemic. Developer CIM Group last month agreed to buy Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in South Los Angeles for more than $100 million. A new light rail station is nearby, and the developer is betting on regular foot traffic to be their bread and butter. Former Sears and Walmart anchors at the site are slated to be office space adjoining the retail portion. “This is what we do well. We try to figure out difficult situations and how to make them better,” Shaul Kuba, CIM’s co-founder, told Bloomberg Businessweek. He acknowledges the retail portion could be a challenge: “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen and who’s going to open or not. Right now, my plan is, if you can open and operate a retail store, I want you do that. I would like you to do that.”
Robin Scherbatsky’s New Take: “Let’s Go To The Mall: Quarantine Edition”
Anyone who’s anyone in the mall industry – or into wacky half-hour sitcoms from the early 2000’s – remembers this classic from How I Met Your Mother. Cobie Smulders’ character Robin Scherbatsky’s secret teenage Canadian pop star past as “Robin Sparkles” was out of the bag. Well, in 2020, after a lengthy and memorable stint as SHIELD Agent Maria Hill, Robin Sparkles came out with a new version of her famous ode to shopping. Check out “Let’s Go To The Mall: Quarantine Edition.”
DMM Sees Movement in Retail
It’s been heartening to see some shopping centers and malls starting to re-open. The DMM research team has been full-steam ahead, tracking the industry’s changing environment. Our analysis points to a good deal of movement in the coming months as the retail industry resets and consumers adapt to and incorporate new shopping habits during these unique times. Will they continue to rely on “Instacart / curb-side pick-up / online grocery delivery” shopping? However the industry shakes out, DMM’s major shopping center and mall data, which includes vital statistics on over 9,000 major properties and their 321,985 associated tenants, is essential to your situational analysis and business opportunities. Click here to learn more.
DMM e-News - Issue #182
