Foot Traffic At U.S. Malls Soars To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Words by Luhar Singh

Foot Traffic At U.S. Malls Soars To Pre-Pandemic Levels
Foot Traffic At U.S. Malls Soars To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Shopping at the mall is in again with foot traffic at U.S. malls on track to reach pre-pandemic levels in the coming weeks. A recent report by S&P Global Market Intelligence indicates that consumers have been frequenting malls and outlet locations in increasing numbers since May when several states began rolling out their reopening plans.

That is not to say that all malls are on a strong path to recovery as certain malls are seemingly performing better than others. 

Malls owned by publicly traded real estate investment trusts, for example, are yet to fully recover with foot traffic roughly down by 15 percent in the week ending August 9, Yahoo Money reported. Meanwhile, discount shopping centers are on a faster track to recovery with foot traffic slightly higher than 2019 levels observed during the same week. 

The S&P report also revealed some interesting performance insights on various mall owners. Macerich, which owns nearly 47 shopping centers and Taubman Centers, which runs 27 shopping malls, showed the slowest growth with foot traffic still down by 25 percent year over year.

On the other hand, mall owners such as Simon Property Group and Taubman Centers are benefitting from the open-air layout of many of their mall locations, with both companies experiencing faster recovery than others, according to Yahoo Money.

Nonetheless, the recovery in foot traffic bears good news for malls across the country and their tenants, many of whom have been delinquent in making rent payments, causing mall owners to struggle with maintaining cash flow and making timely payments on their mortgages. 

In July, Retail Properties of America, Inc., which owns 102 open-air shopping centers in the U.S., reported that the company had only collected 65.3 percent of rent in Q2 2020 as of June 30.

The Mall of America, the largest shopping center in the U.S., which is owned by Triple Five Group, is yet another player that made headlines in Q2 for struggling with rent collection. The mall owner reportedly missed on making two months of payment installments on its $1.4 billion loan.

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