Feb 14, 2010

Small stores see big vacancies at mallsBy Blake JonesPostStar.com

Queensbury — When Old Navy left Aviation Mall last month, small-business owner John Myers saw an opportunity.

Myers runs a family fun center called Party Palace at the other end of the mall, and with business going well, he negotiated a move to the 18,000-square-foot vacancy.

If it weren’t for the recession and a major retail slump, Myers said he wouldn’t have bothered asking.

“When the economy is bad, that gives an entrepreneur the opportunity to come in and try something,” he said. “Corporate (chains) aren’t building, so the little guys have a chance to get the right deal.”

With mall vacancy rates at record highs nationwide and few chain stores expanding, non-traditional and independent businesses can be a way for shopping centers to fill the gap, retail experts say.

Reis Inc., a real estate research firm, said the U.S. mall vacancy rate was 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 – the highest it has been since Reis began tracking regional malls in 2000.

Santa Monica-based Macerich Co., which owns Wilton Mall, reported 9 percent vacancy as of Dec. 31, 2009, up from 7.7 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, tenant sales per square foot fell from $441 per square foot in 2008 to $407 in 2009.

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