March 06, 2015
Source: ICSC News/Press
Reconfiguring a vacant store is often the key to leasing it, panelists said at an SCTLive event in Miami this week titled “Solutions for Hard-to-Fill Spaces.” Retailer prototypes are shrinking, making large spaces unsuitable for many of the types of chains that are now expanding, the participants were saying.
The old supermarket model that required 50,000 square feet does not work anymore, as most grocers are learning to operate in much smaller spaces. “Does the physical plan work? If not, change it,” said Paul Rutledge, CRX, CSM, CLS, first vice president for the Tampa Bay market at CBRE. “Bulldozers are not bad.” Rutledge recommended scrapping excess vacant in-line space and creating new outparcels. Food tenants and other expanding chains, such as Dollar Tree, are increasingly requesting outparcels, he said.