"[real estate investment trusts] are overpaying to bring in Tesla and Apple, and others, in order to drive foot traffic to the property,”

U.S. retailers so far have announced they will shut 5,994 stores, while opening 2,641, according to real estate tracking done by Coresight Research. That’s more locations slated to go dark than during last year. In 2018, there were 5,864 closures announced and 3,239 openings, Coresight said.

....

Mall owners are also experimenting with spaces that let young brands rotate in and out frequently, where they sign short-term leases and gain access to data on foot traffic and shopping patterns. Macerich, the third-largest mall owner in the nation, has a business called BrandBox that it’s rolling out at its centers across the U.S.

“I think this is a multiyear transition,” Busch said. “Cleanse out some of these retailers that lasted longer than they should have. ... It’s going to be tough. Anyone who thinks otherwise is too optimistic. But it doesn’t mean this is a dead business. ... It can continue to be a good business as underproductive [retailers] go away, and the strong landlords invest.”

Mall owners including Simon, Brookfield, Taubman, Macerich, PREIT, CBL and Washington Prime are expected to report quarterly earnings in the coming weeks and will offer a glimpse at the current leasing environment and how they’re dealing with the latest wave of store closures.

Malls with so-called experiential tenants that aren’t just focused on selling products, like Apple, Italian food hall Eataly and Tesla, haven’t been drawing in extra traffic
Malls with so-called experiential tenants that aren’t just focused on selling products, like Apple, Italian food hall Eataly and Tesla, haven’t been drawing in extra traffic - Up until the final three months of 2018, indoor shopping malls with “experiential” tenants didn’t benefit from greater shopper traffic on a year-over-year basis when compared with indoor malls without any of those unique, nonapparel tenants, Thasos said.