Uniqlo's 89,000 square foot Fifth Avenue flagship
New York—The retail industry continues to edge tentatively toward recovery, buoyed by a stellar start to the holiday shopping season, as retailers, landlords, and investors capitalize on pent-up consumer demand and shopping centers remain a top investment category.
However, several obstacles stand in the way of sustained progress in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s North America Year-end Retail Outlook. The sector will most likely remain in a holding pattern for at least the next three quarters as the U.S. elections approach, the European debt crisis heightens and lackluster job growth fuels uncertainty.
“Everyone, including consumers, is in a continued wait-and-see mode, delaying major buying and investment decisions until they see how several dynamics play out, including the elections next year,” said Greg Maloney, president/ceo at Jones Lang LaSalle Retail. “Until we have some market certainty in the U.S. and overseas plus sustained high levels of consumer confidence driven by higher paychecks, a stronger stock market and an improved housing market, a robust recovery will elude the retail sector.”
Retail Outlook Highlights
●National retail vacancy levels dropped slightly from last quarter’s level of 7.1% to 7.0%, posting a year-over-year drop of 10 basis points.
●Rents continue to hover at what is hopefully a bottom, falling 1.6% year over year and inching down 0.5% since the last quarter to the current national average of $14.65.
●Investment sales volume of significant retail properties totaled $8.2 billion in the third quarter, down sharply from the second quarter, when data was inflated by the $9.2 billion Blackstone/Centro transaction.
●All of the 18 regional markets that Jones Lang LaSalle tracks are currently tenant favorable and are likely to remain that way through at least the first half of 2012. Houston is the only market that is showing a significant rise in rental rates.
The year-long trend of slow retail growth continued this quarter as the dramatic turnaround in market fundamentals that experts predicted for the end of 2011 simply did not materialize. However, net absorption has been positive for the past 36 months, with 63.8 million square feet absorbed over the past 12 months. New development remains low, totaling just over 38.4 million square feet over the past 12 months.
Retail Market Continues to Edge Toward a Bottom
National retail vacancy levels posted a miniscule 0.1% quarter-over-quarter drop from 7.1% to 7.0%. Open-air shopping centers reported in at 10.9% vacancy at the high end and general retail at 4.7% vacancy at the low end of the spectrum. New York and San Francisco continue to be the healthiest markets, with vacancy levels of 2.1% and 3.0%, respectively. Atlanta and Dallas show the largest vacancies at 10.2% and 9.1%, respectively. Rents fell 1.17% year over year, and inched down 0.5% since the last quarter to the current national average of $14.65.
Among the markets tracked, Chicago continues to report the highest absorption, with an impressive 2.0 million square feet in the third quarter of 2011. Boston and Houston were not far behind with 1.98 and 1.75 million square feet, respectively. Only Atlanta showed negative net absorption this quarter, with -352,909 square feet, though San Francisco’s poor absorption continued into this quarter with only 19,942 square feet absorbed due to store closings and relocations.
Though retailer contraction subsided this year, with only 2,196 store closures reported, this trend may change course in 2012. Industry pundits predict store closure announcements to hit the 5,000 mark next year if holiday sales prove disappointing. Consumer electronics stores and small specialty retailers will likely take the largest hits.
Smaller Footprints, Larger Flagships
The move towards smaller, more efficient store footprints in population-dense urban
Walmart plans more of its Walmart Express stores, like this one in Chatham, Illinois, in urban areas.
areas continues, as retailers see the profit potential in core markets. Walmart and Best Buy have both made serious commitments to smaller formats, as have many other retailers.
“Retailers are capitalizing on a growing preference for urban living where consumers can walk or bike to their favorite specialty retailer or grocery store in lieu of a long suburban commute,” said Lew Kornberg, managing director, Corporate Retail Solutions. “Small formats also allow retailers to experiment with niche markets while staying flexible and efficient.”
Conversely, several anchors and specialty retailers are launching super-sized flagships in New York, pouring in millions of dollars for these brand-building behemoths. Macy’s is adding 100,000 square feet to its Herald Square flagship, an investment of $400 million over the next four years. Century 21 department store is awaiting approval to almost double the size of its downtown Manhattan location. Uniqlo—whose stores typically average between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet—is opening two massive locations totaling 153,000 square feet of space.
“These oversized store formats are typically used for brand-building where exposure to droves of consumers–including tourists–help drive sales globally and help boost a retailer’s image, justifying the sizeable investment,” said Kornberg.
Commerce 3.0
The trend toward “web-influenced sales”–consumers researching products online, reading reviews and searching for the best deals locally–is growing as the line between physical and online retail continues to blur and bricks-and-mortar retailers draw consumers through technology. The attractiveness of this practice lies in consumers’ desire for immediate gratification as well as the ability to save on shipping costs by buying locally in-store.
Researchers estimate that web-influenced sales will generate almost $1.13 trillion in U.S. sales this year and, by 2015, will represent approximately 44 percent of total retail sales, or $1.55 trillion. Moreover, even though e-commerce sales are growing at a fast clip (10% each year), cross-channel commerce is growing even more rapidly, and is estimated to grow to five times the e-commerce market by 2015.
“To survive in the long-term, local retailers will have to ensure their products show up online, that the site reflects accurate availability, and that the online and in-store experiences are as seamless as possible,” said Kornberg. “The rewards are direct–not only do shoppers come in for the researched product, they also stick around to buy other items once in-store.”
Forrester Research reported that 45% of shoppers interviewed said they bought extra items once in a store, spending, on average, $154 on additional purchases.
2012 Outlook
Economic fundamentals have made some headway in recent months but there are still significant barriers to growth including sinking consumer confidence, very modest income growth and a still-anemic housing market. Though talks of a double-dip recession have diminished in recent weeks with improvements in employment and solid GDP growth, political turmoil state-side coupled with recent stock market jitters catapulted by the debt crisis and overall health of European financial markets could leave a mark on retail performance in coming months.
Though the holiday shopping season has so far set a positive tone, the National Retail Federation is predicting overall lackluster sales with an expected increase of 2.8% in sales over last year to $465.6 billion, slightly higher than the 10-year average of 2.6% but only slightly more than half of last year’s gain.
In light of consumers’ more careful spending, the polarization of retail will most likely continue with a pervasion of smaller, more nimble stores as well as large, luxury flagships. Deep discounters are expected to continue to expand to serve lower income consumers, and luxury retailers–as well as some mid-price retailers–will look to outlet stores to increase their consumer base and boot profitability.
About Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2010 global revenue of more than $2.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 70 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide, including 200 corporate offices. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.8 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company’s investment management business, is one of the world’s largest and most diverse in real estate with $47.9 billion of assets under management. www.joneslanglasalle.com
