Will Grocery Stores Be the Answer For Struggle Malls?
What are suburban mall operators to do? The regional suburban mall was THE place to shop in the 1970s and 80s. It was the modern equivalent of the town square or the Greek agora... everything you need in one climate-controlled spot. However, that started changing by the late 1990s.
Traditional shopping mall anchors, Sears, Macy's, and J.C. Penney's have announced an increasing number of closures in the past months. That leaves mall operates looking for new ways to fills those spaces. Generating traffic is the name of the game. One emerging trend is for grocery stores to inhabit those abandoned locations. In his Washington Post article, Thomas Heath explores this concept, and how it is not an attractive option for every grocery store chain.
