Day 2 at RECon featured a view of the market from a national perspective and addressed the emerging trends in the shopping center industry.
Despite what is written in the paper regarding Amazon and other online shoppers, this market only comprises a small portion of the data according to the research analyst. Markets continue to be strong in cities and urban areas with populations flooding to cities. According to the research analyst, consumer spending continues to be on the rise. Where the markets still has opportunity to grow in this cycle is in the suburban areas. The economic prosperity has not yet reached the suburban areas in terms of shopping centers. According to the research analyst, this is largely due to overdevelopment of strip malls during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. We’re likely to see more pain before we see more growth in the suburban mall areas according to the research analyst. This can be seen in the New England region with continued store closings along the 128 belt. These spaces will need to be reused and repurposed moving forward to meet consumers’ new, changing needs. Especially as the millennials come of age between the ages of 35 and 50.
Looking forward to the next conference in Las Vegas.