Macy's department store has been expanding its omnichannel platform and investment in small store concepts—but it is not eschewing the big box format quite yet. Quite the contrary, actually. The major retailer sees opportunity in malls and large department stores, and plans to build a robust platform with a wide variety of store footprints.

"There is always customer feedback and internal discussion that 200,000 SF large department stores can be intimidating and hard to navigate when you just need a simple item," Joe Hodge, senior director of real estate at Macy's, tells GlobeSt.com. "We will invest appropriately in our stores to give our customers the best shopping experience both within our best malls and our new off-mall properties."

Hodge acknowledges that malls are struggling at the moment, and some are finding a higher and better use as another asset class. "There is no doubt that mall sites will continue to evolve," says Hodge. "We are seeing a lot of multifamily developers and industrial users finding value in these parcels today. That trend will continue."