Houston, We Do Not Have a Problem: The Resiliency of the Mall
Consumers are returning to American shopping malls, and that’s been very evident in Houston, Texas. In a recent report from the Houston Chronicle, reporter Megan Munce noted that despite the pandemic and the rise of online shopping, area shopping centers have shown tremendous resilience and extraordinary growth. And it’s not just the consumers; investors are also taking notice. The proof? Web-exclusive retailers, including apparel brand Allbirds and eyeglass retailer Warby Parker, started looking for in-person locations to meet the demand for real-world shopping. “As convenient as it is to buy online for some, other consumers like to shop for a mattress in a trial environment, so we want to meet the customer where they are,” said mattress company, Casper, in a statement. “Brick and mortar retail has taken back off again,” said Scott Blair, CEO and co-founder of Popable, an online platform that allows businesses to find spaces to hold temporary pop-ups. Munce noted that the numbers are clear: in Q2 2022, investors spent over $3.5 billion to acquire area retail properties. That was the highest since the 3Q 2019, and an increase of $500 million Q1.
Shopping Centers Employ Creative Strategies to Secure Consumer Data
The pandemic may have played a role, but many shopping centers are making moves to intertwine in-person experiences and the digital world. Mall of America in Minnesota has been working for the last few years with video streaming, e-commerce platforms, and advanced loyalty programs, all designed to secure helpful data on consumers. The website ModernRetail recently took a look at the myriad of ways the mall business model has been changing of late. One of the ways the business has changed is the way it is viewed; instead of looking at shopping centers exclusively as pieces of real estate, they are treated as ways to collect data, for example, by monetizing and revamping their advertising spaces. “I think it’s really important that malls are in the e-commerce space interrupting consumer journeys where they are looking to purchase online,” Grant Buntje, VP, marketing Mall of America. Make sure you check out the data you can get by analyzing the trade area activity and consumer demographics by integrating DMM Shopping Center Geofences & DMM Retail Boundary Polygons into your GIS/analytics platform to help you identify consumer journeys, trends and patterns so you can make the most of your projects.
Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones, They’re (kinda) Coming to Cleveland
If your humble e-newsletter editor may date himself, he grew up on Hanna-Barbera cartoons (such as the futuristic Jetsons and the pre-historic Flintstones). As such when a word like “Bedrock” scrolls across the computer screen with nary a hint of 1960s animated goodness, and it’s associated with a major retail project, naturally the interest is piqued. Such is the case in the city that (of course) is home to the Rock (ha!) & Roll Hall of Fame. According to a recent article on ShoppingCenterBusiness.com, a developer, Bedrock, and the City of Cleveland, are looking to take 3.5 million square feet and create the Cuyahoga Riverfront, a new $3.5 billion development project on 35 acres of waterfront land. It’ll reportedly include 2,000 residential units, 850,000 square feet of office space and 12 acres of open public space, in addition to retail, hospitality and restaurants. “[The project] addresses the demands of a world-class city by leveraging sustainable infrastructure and emphasizing pedestrian and transit modes to large, activated open spaces,” said Kofi Bonner, CEO of Bedrock.
Spotlight on a Top 10 Growth Market Center:
Triangle Town Center
Triangle Town Center
5959 Triangle Town Blvd.
Raleigh, NC 27616
Website
Owner/Developer
Kohan Retail Investment Group
Gross Leaseable Retail Area
1,264,285 sq. ft.
Year Opened
2002
Retailers Include
Belk, Dillard's, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, DTLR, Kids Foot Locker, LOFT, Torrid, Men's Wearhouse, BD Trendz, PacSun, Auntie Anne's, Sino Wok, Lakhani Jewelers, Barnes & Noble, Chique Prom, Billionaire's Barber Club
According to the trade area analysis available on ShoppingCenters.com:
- Primary Market Population: 821,561
- Average Household Income: $116,974
- Number of Households: 321,882
- Average Shopper Age: 38.4
- Projected Five-year Income Growth: 13.1%
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Retail Data Integration and Innovation Key Topic with Visitors to our ICSC New York 2022 Booth
Thanks to all who came to the DMM/ShoppingCenters.com booth at ICSC New York at NYC’s Javits Center to say hello to new technologies and services and goodbye to 2022. It was great to be able to show everyone how the DMM data has been integrated with mobile observations to create trade areas illustrating WHO the consumers are that are visiting the properties, WHERE they come from and WHAT segmentation insights and behaviors are matched to them.
We had multiple conversations about how retail mix and co-tenancy are key decision drivers to shopping center success. We also discussed how Brokers and Leasing Agents use DMM’s categorized tenant list and comprehensive center details of 100+ relevant attributes to analyze the market demands and adjust their strategic leasing/tenanting plans accordingly. If you didn’t get a chance to stop by the booth to discuss all the new data integrations and features we’ve added to the site, and how our retail data can take you from analysis to strategy to action, contact us today to find out more.
