anchors away

Ben Schumin

Department Store Departures Will Be Good For Malls In The Long Run

While the nationwide retail apocalypse has led to lost jobs and terrible liquidation sales, there’s one piece of good news for consumers and for the companies that own malls. As old-fashioned anchors like Sears and JCPenney move out, more diverse stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues are moving in, and they’re paying much higher rents. [More]

(Montgomery County Planning Commission)

Fewer Middle-Class Consumers Means Fewer Midrange Mall Anchors

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, there was a deeply symbolic changeover at the King of Prussia mall in the suburbs of Philadelphia. What used to be a large Sears department store has assumed its final form: it’s part Dick’s Sporting Goods store and part Primark, a fast fashion retailer out of Ireland. That’s just one mall that demonstrates a trend: the institution of the anchor store is dying out in malls. [More]