Sometimes you need a sprained ankle bandaged or a sore ear looked at outside of the hours that your primary health care provider is open. Where do you go when that happens? In a growing number of communities, you can head to the mall, where small urgent care clinics are setting up in that storefront where Blockbuster used to be.

“Blockbuster” isn’t just a random choice of a defunct retail chain. According to retail real estate experts, urgent care centers have been actively seeking out former Blockbusters in strip malls. They have everything that a walk-in clinic needs. They’re the right size, but location is important, too. Patients of a walk-in clinic need to know where it is in order to walk in.

We learned from Bloomberg Businessweek that malls like the clinics, too. While other retailers might appreciate customers wandering over, what mall owners appreciate is that clinic operators can pay slightly higher rents per square foot than stores. They sign longer leases, and medical practices usually have better credit than retailers. Renting out store spaces to clinics while mall vacancies are up seems to be working out for everyone.

Medical Clinics Take Over Malls’ Empty Spaces [Bloomberg Businessweek]

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