PHILADELPHIA—Department stores will play a less-pivotal role in retail centers of the future, as sales declines lead to foot-traffic declines, says Steve Gartner, managing director of CBRE's regional retail practice. The good news is that other retail uses with better traffic will replace them and improve the sales prospects for such malls over time, he says.
“Trends take time, trends just don't happen overnight, trends often take years or even decades to play out,” he tells GlobeSt.com exclusively in advance of the ICSC's regional conference in Atlantic City. “one would be the decline in importance of what we call traditional old-fashioned department stores as being relevant in projects.”
As sales in department stores decline, traffic also declines, he says. “You don't tend to have lots of traffic and no sales, and vice versa,” he says. “We see that with Macy's announcing closings in the Philadelphia area. People lament that, but they really shouldn't, because the traffic they were generating has been on the decline for years, and what will replace them will undoubtedly be uses that create more traffic.”
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
