Regional Mall Vacancies Rise, Does It Matter?

One of the popular statistics that economists like to throw around right now is regional mall vacancies. What this statistic measures is how many store-locations are empty in regional or local malls. If the Smoothie King or American Eagle used to have a spot at the local mall and now they don’t–then that factors into this statistic. And unfortunately, the statistic doesn’t look good.

Vacancies at the largest U.S. retail centers rose to the highest level in at least a decade as unemployment and “inconsistent” consumer spending reduced demand from tenants, Reis Inc. said.Vacancies at the biggest malls, known as regional and super-regional centers, increased to 8.9 percent in the first quarter from 8.8 percent in the previous three months and 7.9 percent a year earlier, the real estate research company said in a statement. The rate was the highest since 2000, when New York- based Reis began tracking the data.

The statistic is relatively new, as the article states, so it may mean nothing! Or it may mean something, but nothing relative to the recession. There is no way to know except through time and comparison.