Despite all the challenges of 2021, malls have proven they still hold an important place in the American retail landscape, according to a report by Placer.ai.
Top-performing malls are working hard to stay relevant by taking risks on new and untested tenants, investing in digital and omnichannel capacities, and getting creative to provide their customers with unexpected experiences that keep people coming back. So while malls likely will continue to play a key role in American retail going forward — as proven by their strong performance the past holiday season — those that fail to innovate will get left behind.
Even the hardest hit states are almost fully recovered. The pandemic hit malls in each state with a varying degree of impact, with many states seeing foot traffic down 20 percent to 30 percent year-over-two-year in first quarter 2021. But the vast majority of states are nearing a full-visit recovery, and by fourth quarter only five states had year-over-year v