Retailers Choosing Open-Air

HOLLYWOOD, FL-A growing number of retailers are choosing open-air centers over malls, and in some cases, those chains are already posting better sales in the former category. Retail executives spoke about these real estate trends here yesterday at the International Council of Shopping Centers Open-Air Center Conference.

Dallas-based J.C. Penney has long been known primarily as a mall anchor. But of the 28 stores the company plans to open this year, 23 will go up in open-air centers. Twelve of the 19 that opened last year were open air.

Plus, the company’s 22 existing open-air stores take in $200 per sf versus the portfolio average of $153 per sf. One strategy the retailer has employed is to take over the spaces vacated by such retailers as Kmart, Wal-Mart and ShopKo, said Paul Freddo, company VP and director of real estate. “There are opportunities that are falling in our lap right now,” he said.