Now you can shop at the department store, eat at the food court and play mini golf at the mall.
Although vacancies are creeping up again, mall operators are fighting back by adding new and unconventional tenants during the worst glut regional shopping malls have seen in 10 years.
Thirteen percent of the more than 500 total storefronts in the region were vacant, according to a BizSense tally.
In December, at the height of the holiday shopping season, the combined vacancy was 9.2 percent. But the recent tally shows an improvement from the previous spring, when BizSense counted a combined storefront vacancy of 15 percent at local malls.
Vacancy figures for commercial real estate are generally calculated based on square footage, not storefronts, but malls do not release those figures. According to Reis Inc., a national real estate research firm, vacancy at U.S. shopping malls in terms of square footage reached a 10-year high of 9 percent during the second quarter. Lease rates have continued to fall nationwide since the third quarter of 2008, from $40.62 per square foot per year to $38.72.
Short Pump Town Center, operated by Forest City, remains the market leader for occupancy, with only 6 percent of storefronts vacant. The most notable departure from the mall was in January when high-end furniture store West Elm closed its doors. That space is still empty.
Storefront vacancy at Virginia Center Commons, Stony Point, Willow Lawn and Chesterfield Towne Center range from 15 percent to 19 percent.
Regency Square mall had the next lowest percentage of empty store fronts at 10.7 percent. That mall showed the greatest improvement from spring 2008, when BizSense counted more than 21 percent of its storefronts vacant.
One of the biggest changes at Regency, according to General Manager Jack Romaine, is the opening of XXI Forever, an expansion of clothing retailer Forever 21, which sells everything from apparel for men and teens to footwear and accessories.
“They have been very successful here,” said Romaine. “I feel a lot of people are making that their destination. We are happy to have them, and they are unique to the market.”
The new mega-store takes up 45,700 feet at the mall and covers two floors. The retailer’s original store at the mall was 8,000 square feet.
Creating the new space involved tearing down more than a few walls.
“We combined a bit of leasable space to pull that one off,” Romaine said.
Also new at Regency is accessory shop Charming Charlie, and Bill’s Barbeque opened a place in the mall’s food court. Regional chain Wings, Pizza & Things is also preparing to open a 5,400-square-foot restaurant in September, Romaine said.
Romaine said the mall is performing well considering the economic environment.
“It is more challenging than ever to be a successful regional mall. Here we are in an over-stored environment, and I think we’ve done some good things to keep the customers coming,” Romaine said.
The challenge to keep shopping centers occupied has sometimes led operators to try approaches they likely wouldn’t have dreamed up when vacant spaces leased quickly.
For example, Chesterfield Towne Center is preparing the future home of home and garden big box retailer GardenRidge in what was previously a Dillard’s department store.
“It’s a different kind of mall merchant,” said Denise Smith, marketing manager for the mall, which is owned by Macerich. “GardenRidge has never been attached to a regional mall.”
Department stores, which typically take up the large anchor spaces, have been scaling back rather than expanding, Smith said.
“Everyone has consolidated so much, and there is only a small handful of department stores out there that aren’t already here,” Smith said.
Lunar Golf, a black-lit, indoor mini golf course, has been open for a while in a space that was also occupied by Dillard’s, which once operated two department stores at the mall. Just last month, Dillard’s closed one of its two stores at Virginia Center Commons.
Macerich also has new stores coming to Chesterfield Towne Center, including the Children’s Place in August followed by the Shoe Dept. later in the fall. Wings, Pizza & Things is also planning to take over the space left by long time mall restaurant Spinnaker’s.
Changes are also afoot at other malls. Construction is ongoing at Stony Point, where Alabama-based CineBistro is opening a six-screen movie theater where patrons can also eat dinner. Virginia Center Commons this year has added a Toys R Us Express store, and Lunar Golf opened a second location inside that mall as well.
At Willow Lawn, owners Federal Realty Investment Trust have been approved for a demolition permit to remove the enclosed portion of the mall and return it to an outdoor strip center. No work appears to have been done yet. You can read more about that in story by BizSense here.
Al Harris covers commercial real estate for BizSense. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Now you can shop at the department store, eat at the food court and play mini golf at the mall.
Although vacancies are creeping up again, mall operators are fighting back by adding new and unconventional tenants during the worst glut regional shopping malls have seen in 10 years.
Thirteen percent of the more than 500 total storefronts in the region were vacant, according to a BizSense tally.
In December, at the height of the holiday shopping season, the combined vacancy was 9.2 percent. But the recent tally shows an improvement from the previous spring, when BizSense counted a combined storefront vacancy of 15 percent at local malls.
Vacancy figures for commercial real estate are generally calculated based on square footage, not storefronts, but malls do not release those figures. According to Reis Inc., a national real estate research firm, vacancy at U.S. shopping malls in terms of square footage reached a 10-year high of 9 percent during the second quarter. Lease rates have continued to fall nationwide since the third quarter of 2008, from $40.62 per square foot per year to $38.72.
Short Pump Town Center, operated by Forest City, remains the market leader for occupancy, with only 6 percent of storefronts vacant. The most notable departure from the mall was in January when high-end furniture store West Elm closed its doors. That space is still empty.
Storefront vacancy at Virginia Center Commons, Stony Point, Willow Lawn and Chesterfield Towne Center range from 15 percent to 19 percent.
Regency Square mall had the next lowest percentage of empty store fronts at 10.7 percent. That mall showed the greatest improvement from spring 2008, when BizSense counted more than 21 percent of its storefronts vacant.
One of the biggest changes at Regency, according to General Manager Jack Romaine, is the opening of XXI Forever, an expansion of clothing retailer Forever 21, which sells everything from apparel for men and teens to footwear and accessories.
“They have been very successful here,” said Romaine. “I feel a lot of people are making that their destination. We are happy to have them, and they are unique to the market.”
The new mega-store takes up 45,700 feet at the mall and covers two floors. The retailer’s original store at the mall was 8,000 square feet.
Creating the new space involved tearing down more than a few walls.
“We combined a bit of leasable space to pull that one off,” Romaine said.
Also new at Regency is accessory shop Charming Charlie, and Bill’s Barbeque opened a place in the mall’s food court. Regional chain Wings, Pizza & Things is also preparing to open a 5,400-square-foot restaurant in September, Romaine said.
Romaine said the mall is performing well considering the economic environment.
“It is more challenging than ever to be a successful regional mall. Here we are in an over-stored environment, and I think we’ve done some good things to keep the customers coming,” Romaine said.
The challenge to keep shopping centers occupied has sometimes led operators to try approaches they likely wouldn’t have dreamed up when vacant spaces leased quickly.
For example, Chesterfield Towne Center is preparing the future home of home and garden big box retailer GardenRidge in what was previously a Dillard’s department store.
“It’s a different kind of mall merchant,” said Denise Smith, marketing manager for the mall, which is owned by Macerich. “GardenRidge has never been attached to a regional mall.”
Department stores, which typically take up the large anchor spaces, have been scaling back rather than expanding, Smith said.
“Everyone has consolidated so much, and there is only a small handful of department stores out there that aren’t already here,” Smith said.
Lunar Golf, a black-lit, indoor mini golf course, has been open for a while in a space that was also occupied by Dillard’s, which once operated two department stores at the mall. Just last month, Dillard’s closed one of its two stores at Virginia Center Commons.
Macerich also has new stores coming to Chesterfield Towne Center, including the Children’s Place in August followed by the Shoe Dept. later in the fall. Wings, Pizza & Things is also planning to take over the space left by long time mall restaurant Spinnaker’s.
Changes are also afoot at other malls. Construction is ongoing at Stony Point, where Alabama-based CineBistro is opening a six-screen movie theater where patrons can also eat dinner. Virginia Center Commons this year has added a Toys R Us Express store, and Lunar Golf opened a second location inside that mall as well.
At Willow Lawn, owners Federal Realty Investment Trust have been approved for a demolition permit to remove the enclosed portion of the mall and return it to an outdoor strip center. No work appears to have been done yet. You can read more about that in story by BizSense here.
Al Harris covers commercial real estate for BizSense. Please send news tips to [email protected].
we lived in chesterfield county for several years and saw the developmnet of short pump and stony brook shopping centers; at that time, 2003-04, they were the latest in “main street” type malls and a buzz nationally; it’s good to see that short pump’a vacancy rate is a diamond during the tough retail enviroment and that other malls are improving their vacancy rate.