The study, based on analysis of results from the nation's 100 largest retailers and US Census retail sales data, shows that mall-based retailers now account for only 17.8% of total retail sales, down from 18.5% in 2003 and 19.5% in 2002. As recently as 1995, mall-focused retailers comprised 39% of the nation's retail dollar.
The annual Consumer Shopping study also found that off-mall retailers such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Costco accounted for $734 billion in sales, compared to a total of $159 billion for mall-focused retailerslike J.C. Penney, Federated Department Stores and Limited Brands during 2004. For the year, the top 100 retailers achieved $893 billion in US sales.
Moreover, the 10 retailers that have seen the strongest annual sales growth since 2000 were all off-mall chains, according to the study. Leading the pack was Wal-Mart's, along with home improvement retailers The Home Depot and Lowe's.
The study found that several mall-based chains retailers are "scrambling to rebuild topline sales by beginning to reposition their store fleets off-mall."
Sears, for example, continues to move off-mall via its Sears Grand and Sears Essentials formats. Similarly, J.C. Penney, which has closed roughly 125 mall locations since 2000, plans to open more than 75 new off-mall locations.
"It is evident that some of the historically great retail names are 'voting with their feet' in following the changing preferences of time-pressed American consumers as they move off-mall," said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, in a statement.
Johnson attributes the shift from mall-based retail to off-mall retail to six factors including: growing "time poverty" among consumers; the rise of home décor and improvement; a move from recreational shopping to "mission" shopping; the perceptions of sameness of merchandise and presentation in many traditional malls; price and a declining share ofapparel spending.
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