(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

NEW YORK CITY-Media-oriented retailers are the most likely chains to close stores in the coming year, shopping center and mall owners said here yesterday at the Deutsche Bank Securities 2006 Real Estate Outlook. Music and video retailers, including Blockbuster, were singled out by the speakers as candidates for shutting stores.

But expanding specialty restaurants, like Panera Bread and Starbuck's, as well as new concepts, such as Gap Inc.'s Forth & Towne and Chico's Soma will be quick to fill those spaces – and could pay higher rents, they said. "It's great real estate," says Hap Stein, chief executive officer of Regency Centers, of the spaces some stores could vacate. "Long term, we'll see increased rents and increased operating income."

Industry observers have also kept their eyes on what will happen as a result of the mergers between Federated and May department stores as well as Kmart and Sears. Landlords say they see opportunities in both scenarios.