Retail Retrenchment

Despite department and clothing stores losing jobs (81,400 over the past year, down to 2.44 million), mall vacancy rates have steadied at 9.3% after rising for two straight years. And, the vacancy rate at strip malls fell to 10.1% in 19Q2 from 10.2% in 19Q1, the first quarterly decline since 16Q1. The combination of retail adaptation, mall repurposing, demolition, and limited new mall building, is starting to turn the tide.