VIENNA, WV–It is not easy being a retail REIT these days, or a retailer for that matter. Yet Washington Prime Group has been finding success with its strategy of repositioning anchors at its malls across the US, including its holding in Vienna, West Virginia, Grand Central Mall. The REIT recently announced it has secured a 20,000-square foot H&M for the mall, replacing a former Elder Beerman department store. It will be H&M's first location in West Virginia when the store opens in the fall of this year.

All told the REIT has repositioned, or is in the process of repositioning 15 anchors since 2015, according to CEO Lou Conforti. “Anchor repositioning is a testament to our hybrid model of combining enclosed and open air formats within a single convenient location,” he said in a prepared statement. Recently-announced tenants include ALDI, Party City, PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less, Round 1 and The Room Place.

Other Repositionings:

Great Lakes Mall

Construction is underway on the renovation of a former Dillard's department store at Great Lakes Mall, which is located in Mentor, Ohio. The anchor repositioning project includes the addition of a 50,000-square-foot Round 1, an entertainment center, which is expected to open during the second quarter of 2018, as well as an Outback Steakhouse, and new retailers.

Markland Mall

Markland Mall, located in Kokomo, Ind., has several new tenants — ALDI, Party City, PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less — that are filling a former Sears department store space. Washington Prime points to this anchor repositioning project as representative of its strategy of renovating traditional enclosed retail centers into a hybrid format of both enclosed and open air formats.