The Power of Retail

Retail developers are changing the way they have done business lately. With the weak US economy, which has made developers wary of starting new projects, developers are instead tweaking existing projects to create new retail formats. As one executive calls it, it is the “intensification” or “densification” of shopping centers that are already present as a way to turn the tide away from an over-malled country.

Developers are looking for new formats and underutilized space that they can use to create something different. According to the chairman and CEO of the country’s second largest developer, General Growth Properties, John Bucksbaum, “Intensifying the use of property is certainly the major innovation.” One of the malls being redevolped by the company in Holladay, Utah is getting offices and residential growth as part of being de-malled. The re-done mall will open in 2010, as a mixed use format with shops, restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, condos, townhouses, cinemas, offices, riverside trails as well as a public plaza.

“You need to give people more choices,” said Scott Schroeder, vice president of marketing and communications for Developers Diversified Realty. “Nobody wants to make eight stops to get what they need.” He noted that the performance of certain specialty retailers and smaller “junior” anchors was an ongoing concern for the industry. “The more we can create a hub that combines value and fashion, the more appeal we have and the more customers we will retain.”

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