22 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • DECEMBER 2021
LONG ISLAND MALLS INNOVATE TO THRIVE IN NEW ERA
continued from page 21
“Retail changed, even pre-pandemic.
You can go shopping for home furnishings
and enjoy entertainment and
restaurants,” said Dominic Coluccio,
chief leasing and development offi cer
for Samanea (pronounced “suh-manya”)
New York. “You can spend the
entire day. Previously, malls were
just focused on the retail component.
Now you can have an experience with
a tenant you wouldn’t have anywhere
else.”
Malls were hit by a kind of anchors
away in recent years as some anchor
tenants left. Sunrise Mall in Massapequa
lost Sears and Broadway
Commons in Hicksville lost Macy’s,
while Green Acres Mall lost Sears
and JCPenney. But lately some malls
are going from ghost towns to a kind
of new downtown. A strong economy,
despite infl ation, and pent-up demand
are fueling a resurgence, even a possible
renaissance, at some malls.
“Demand for our space from a broad
spectrum of tenants is growing,” said
David Simon, CEO and president of
Simon Property Group, which operates
Roosevelt Field in Westbury, Walt
Whitman Shops in Huntington Station,
and Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.
“Occupancy gains continued, retailer
sales accelerated, including our owned
brands, and cash fl ow increased.”
Simon recently raised its quarterly
dividend and upped full-year
earnings projections as it reported
92.8 percent occupancy at its U.S.
malls with a base minimum rent
per square foot of $53.91, as of Sept.
30, 2021.
“It looks as if Simon has, indeed, turned
a corner,” according to The Motley Fool.
“The situation is complex and there are
overlapping issues here. But things are
defi nitely looking up.”
Alexander Goldfarb, a managing
director and senior research analyst
at Piper Sandler, says international
tourists aren’t back, but notes that
many “malls are packed, shoppers
are there, and tenants are taking space”
again. “The fear of getting back in the
department store, the fear of getting
back in whatever weak retailer, is not
there anymore,” he said.
The pandemic, Goldfarb added,
“cleaned out a lot of weak retailers”
and while e-commerce is strong, there
appears to be an appetite for traditional
retail. And e-xperience and
e-xclusivity compete with e-commerce
at malls like Samanea, where 99 Ranch
Market, an Asian supermarket with
more than 50 locations nationwide, is
opening its first New York location.
Let’s Craft!, golf simulator X-Golf,
moCA Asian Bistro, KPOT Korean
BBQ, a Szechuan restaurant, and a
35,572-square-foot Empire Adventure
Park with trampolines, virtual reality,
and rock climbing are all part of the
plan for the mall mix.
“It’s creating new experiences,” Collucio
said of reimagining malls. “We’re
repositioning and looking at the best
use of where we are.”
Coluccio points to the desire to feel,
touch, and test products before buying,
an experience something e-commerce
can’t really sell. “You can’t go to an adventure
park or go to a golf simulator
on your computer,” he said. “It’s being
interactive with the community.”
Goldfarb said malls are converting retail
to restaurants and offi ces, pointing
to Simon’s Galleria in Houston, which
has offi ces and hotels. An NHL (National
Hockey League) arena and headquarters
are going up at Northgate Station
in Seattle and Simon’s earnings show
its brick-and-mortar business is back.
Simon reported $679.9 million in
third-quarter income, up from $145.9
million a year ago. It’s also looking to
licensing as well as renting as part of its
revival. Those earnings include $111.9
million from interests in Forever 21 and
Brooks Brothers intellectual property
licensing ventures, as mall operators
reimagine their role.
Samanea opened a Halloween House
and planned a Christmas House along
with a holiday market in the parking
lot. Pop-up experiences are diff erent
from pop-up ads. It’s also planning an
amusement park in the parking lot
next summer, hoping entertainment
complements e-commerce. And there’s
another potential big plus to being in
the mall business. “No one is building
a new mall,” Goldbarb said, although
new uses may be part of the new norm.
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