"Shoppers are returning, and they are shopping," said Michael Kercheval, president and chief executive officer of the International Council of Shopping Centers, speaking at the annual RECon show here. "Retailers are recovering, and consumption is coming back."

About 35,000 people are at this year's convention, noted Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, keynote speaker at the event. This is an improvement from last year, when attendees drastically dipped from the high point of 2007, which saw a record 50,000 people.

Before Palin and Kercheval, a series of workshops took place to assist retail real estate professionals with their day-to-day activities. Joseph Aquino, a broker at New York City-based Prudential Douglas Elliman, said that many foreign retail concepts are looking to make a push into the United States.