How to save malls? Kill the apparel store

Here's what needs to replace them

Ditching apparel stores is the only way to save malls a new report finds. (Wikimedia Commons)
Ditching apparel stores is the only way to save malls a new report finds. (Wikimedia Commons)

Bring back the movie theatres and bowling alleys! That’s the rallying cry from a new CBRE report that found “experiential” tenants, not clothing stores, were the way a struggling mall could turn a profit.

“The one thing that the Internet can’t compete with is in-person experiences,” said Melina Cordero, CBRE America’s head of retail research, to Commercial Observer.

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In the last five years, restaurants saw sales rise by 35 percent while stores focused on home improvement grew by 25 percent, and health and wellness stores saw sales grow by 20 percent. In comparison, department store sales decreased by 15 percent despite accounting for almost 50 percent of the tenants in an average American mall. In August, The Real Deal looked at flagship stores, which experts said are likely to fare better than traditional bricks-and-mortar.

[Commercial Observer] — E.K. Hudson