Struggling Strip Malls Invite Non-Retail Tenants

High vacancy rates in strip shopping centers are driving mall owners in Long Island, New York, to welcome tenants other than the retail stores that traditionally populate the streetfront centers. According to The New York Times, the combination of large discount stores that sell a variety of items and the increase in Internet buying have led to the closing of local retail shops. And so many Suffolk County centers that usually feature delicatessens and video and stationery stores have evolved into centers occupied in part by such businesses as dance studios, medical services, and lawyers. The article says such changes are not necessarily beneficial to retailers who remain in the strip. "It fills the vacancies," Roy Fedelem, principal planner at the Suffolk County Department of Planning, told The Times, "but doesn't necessarily benefit the retail tenant because non-retail doesn't create a lot of traffic."