Shoppers braving the mall this holiday season may notice more that’s new than the day’s discounts.
Many mall owners are spending billions to add more upscale restaurants and bars, premium movie theaters with dine-in options, bowling alleys and similar amenities. Some have turned swaths of space that previously housed department stores over to health clubs and grocery stores. Others are undergoing no less than a ground-up transformation to make room for office space, hotels and apartments.
The trend has been gaining traction as the companies that operate malls look for ways to keep people coming in at a time when Macy’s, Sears and other big department store chains have shuttered hundreds of stores and consumers increasingly opt to shop online.
“The mix of uses at our malls is changing,” said Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of mall owner CBL Properties. “It’s becoming less apparel and more dining, more entertainment, more service, more fitness, wellness – the types of categories that are more popular.”
CBL, which owns and manages 119 properties, including malls, outlets and open-air retail centers, has been adding more non-retail tenants after a wave of retailer bankruptcies and store closures in 2015 and this year, including at Gymboree, Payless ShoeSource and The Limited.