In most of Florida, says David Conn, executive vice president in the retail services division at CBRE in Tampa, many deep value retailers, such as Family General, Dollar Tree, Big lots, Aldi's, and TJMaxx have expanded aggressively during the recession, while others stopped expanding. The deep discounters could do this, because they work on low margins and can't pay high rents, he says.

Today, things are changing. "There is a cautious optimism among retailers," says Conn. Most are looking a couple years down the road, he says. "They've cut costs to the bone, so the only way to increase their bottom lines is to expand. If retailers see a good opportunity and the rent's right, they will take it," says Conn. "Rents have come down, on average, 30%," he says. Of course, the retailers which are just surviving can't take advantage of the situation, says Conn.

Target may be a good example of a retailer poised to expand, says Conn. Recently, most of Target's capital budget has gone into remodeling existing stores, he says. The chain has embraced the P-Fresh concept, which is an expansion of grocery items at the standard Target store, while not to the level of a Super Target. Because P-Fresh involves remodeling of existing stores, rather than building new ones, it costs less.