Margaret Brennan's Retail Detail: Retail's Dirty Little Secret: Empty Store Space - Holiday Central

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It's a make-it or break it time for retailers. The holiday selling season is always a critical time for retailers, but this year this may be even more true. With several retailers already falling victim to a drop in consumer spending, and filing for bankruptcy, retailers will be navigating through some tricky waters. Consumers are strapped for cash due to high energy and food prices, and unemployment is rising. The recent credit crunch has made it more challenging for retailers and consumers to borrow.

This blog will look at the winners and losers in the retail space. Who has the right strategy to capture consumer dollars? It also will look for trends in consumer spending and how that will impact the economy.

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May.22

3:18 PM ET

Thursday, 22 May 2008

Retail's Dirty Little Secret: Empty Store Space

Posted By:Margaret Brennan

Topics:Consumers | Retail Sales

Sectors:Personal and Household Goods | Retail

Store for lease
Squeakymarmot
Store for lease
From Office Depot, to Target, to Nordstrom to Costco, so many stores have mentioned the sales weakness that they’re suffering in these formerly booming areas.

Two weeks ago, I decided to travel there and see the reality of what so many retail analysts have said. What I found are the dirty little secrets of retail: the empty Mom and Pop stores in strip malls.

Driving around Southern California’s Ventura and Los Angeles counties, we saw many of those boarded up stores or “for lease” signs in small businesses. In Oxnard, California the local retail organization told me that these areas are getting “redeveloped” but store owners were much less optimistic.

Tracking firms like Costar and Reis report that formerly hot real estate markets in Southern California (also Arizona and South Florida) have seen a lot of new store additions over the past 5 years and are now showing rising vacancies.

Costar reports that particular parts of California are feeling real pain. Vacancy rates are up around 6% in Sacramento and the Inland Empire (outside L.A.) Orange County and Los Angeles saw a vacancy around 3% in the first quarter. These numbers don’t include small businesses.

There are two factors at play. Retailers were chasing the new rooftops in formerly hot real estate markets like California and Florida by building new stores in those locations. Now that consumer wealth is receding, those new stores are seeing traffic like they once were. Some national chains have gone bankrupt ( Linens N Things, Comp USA) and others have closed down stores to save money (Ethan Allen, Home Depot, etc.)