will notice a lot of changes: The chain is banning
spa-like services, as well as bra fitting and ear
piercing. For clothes that have been tried or
returned, workers will take them off the sales
floor for 24 hours.
Higher-end malls are expected to survive
the crisis because owners like Simon, which
operates 200 properties in 37 states, have
enough money to cover losses. A Simon
spokesperson declined to comment.
There was already a growing gap between
the high- and low-end malls. While vacancies
at top malls have remained tight at 2.7 %, the
bottom-rung of malls are struggling with an
average vacancy rate of 7.9% as of the first three
months of 2020, according to Kevin Cody, senior
consultant at CoStar Portfolio.
“It’s really a tale of two cities,” said Steve Dennis,
president and CEO of SageBerry Consulting, a
retail consultancy. “(The crisis) really pushes the
extremes further apart.”
William Taubman, chief operating officer at
Taubman Centers, which operates such high-
end centers as The Mall at Short Hills in N.J.
and Beverly Centers in Los Angeles, said he
believes the carnage in stores in communities
will only fortify business at malls like his. He
feels heartened that Taubman’s mall business
in South Korea is exceeding sales prior to the
pandemic. In China, business is “not quite there
but almost there.”
Taubman said he thinks many are interested in
getting out but “they may come less frequently.”
He expects spending will be higher for
each trip.
Image: LM Otero