Retail Traffic Magazine

The retail chains have each announced expansion plans for next year, even as many businesses are closing stores.

Elaine Misonzhnik says the time is soon coming where having a smartphone at the mall will be a necessity instead of a luxury.

Net lease investors see drugstores as solid, no-nonsense investments, and with an unstable market that's music to an investor's ears.

The regional mall has been declared dead for a decade, but Elaine Misonzhnik says the behemoths weathered the recession well and are poised for a comeback.

Who ever heard of "small-box stores"? Retail experts say the Walmarts and Targets of the world should have great success with smaller stores in urban settings.

Developers are planning a push into the Great White North with an (until now) distinctly American product - the outlet center.

And more stores are opening, according to Retail Traffic Magazine. An estimated 35,000 new stores are predicted to open in 2011, while closings will likely be less than last year.

With malls failing around the country, America may want to consider innovative new projects from international sites like Morocco or the Philippines.

Retail Traffic Magazine reports that some developers who specialized in regional malls are moving over into developing outlet centers. Says an analyst, "The whole value concept is resonating right now."

Supermarkets are moving in to spaces vacated by department stores in malls, which until recently were too costly for grocery stores to rent.

The Save-a-Lot grocery chain has succeeded by going into urban and rural low-income areas that other chains have shied away from.

In Westminster, Colorado, the city's economic development department is attempting to have the Westminster Mall blighted and thus up for seizing through eminent domain.

Retail Traffic Magazine reports that the indoor mall, long declared dead, has weathered the storm of the recession better than expected -- and better than many retail concepts imagined as the next big thing.

Mall operators across the country were getting requests for rent relief during the economic downturn, but in a sign of possible recovery, the requests have mostly dried up.

A new study shows a significant increase in planned new retail stores over the past three months, and discounters and grocery stores are leading the way.

Mall operator Westfield Group says it is developing a completely virtual "mall" shopping space, and is seeking retailers to rent spaces.

Foot traffic is up 3.5%, and even sales are up a little at Minnesota's megamall. Retail Traffic Magazine gleans some lessons from the Mall's success.

The "food court", staple of malldom and home of Hot Dog on a Stick, is dead, say retail architects and designers. Higher-end restaurants and softer surfaces are replacing the shiny plastic tables and Orange Juliuses of the past.

The market for big box spaces plunged during the recession as companies like Circuit City folded. But demand is very slightly picking up, and in some places it never went away.

Experts believe that financing for retail projects may begin flowing early next year, but are concerned that the pool of recipients may be limited, and projects may be conventional.