Latest Retail Trends

Consumers are expected to be more cautious about their expenditures in 2024, especially if inflation continues on its current trajectory. This has put a damper on the furniture store sector, which is in stark contrast from the previous few years when home dwellers were obsessed with gussying up their interior spaces. However, the millennial audience has proven to be the exception, as many are purchasing their first homes and need furniture and appliances, albeit ideally at a cheaper price point. More

Production companies opening retail/entertainment venues in order to create new revenue streams featuring their own shows and characters is nothing new. Disney Studios and Universal Pictures both did it with their theme parks, for example. Even the Nickelodeon Group television programming channel opened Nickelodeon Universe amusement parks in both the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J., and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., as well as an accompanying retail store in the Mall of America location. Netflix is also jumping on the bandwagon and opening its own permanent brick-and-mortar stores called Netflix House. More

Pet ownership is showing no signs of slowing down, especially among high-earning millennial homeowners who are starting their own families. According to the most recent statistics provided by the American Pet Products Association, 66% of U.S. households own a pet. Pet ownership has especially proliferated due to the work-from-home/hybrid work week schedules that continue to be the new normal, as workers spend less time commuting and can therefore devote more time interacting with their pets. More

There has been an increase of redevelopment projects that aim to convert outlet mall centers into mixed-use spaces, especially within the South. This is mainly due to the recent massive population increases that have occurred over the past few years in these growing Southern communities. Outlet malls are generally situated in the far outlying regions of major metros that have traditionally been considered population deserts. However, the huge influx of new residents into Southern markets has resulted in a rising demand within these outskirt areas not just for housing, but also entertainment, retail and other types of services. More

Gone are the days when Girl Scout troops were relegated to meeting in either a troop leader’s living room or a multipurpose room within a library, school or church. Beginning this year, the Girl Scouts of the USA has partnered with Newmark to open “DreamLabs” in prime retail centers throughout the country. More

Child-centric retail tenants can frequently be hot one moment and then considered “uncool” the next because the younger customer is fickle and fads for this audience are prone to change. One constant, however, is the service-oriented tenant for this age segment. Haircuts, especially, are a service that children, including tweens, will always need to get. A fairly new category in the hair cutting realm is the salon that is specifically geared to children. More

Even though the Utah-based “dirty soda” concept has been around for the last 10 years or so, it was only within the last two years that the rest of the country began to take notice of the unique non-alcoholic drink concoctions. The dirty soda craze really took off in 2022 when TikTok-ers began posting photos of their dirty soda creations, piggybacking off of the popular Gen Z singer Olivia Rodrigo, who started the trend by posting her own dirty soda drink from Utah. More

San Francisco’s downtown region saw the recent exodus of numerous retail entities, including the Westfield- owned San Francisco Centre mall after the departure of Nordstrom, but a glimmer of hope may be on the horizon thanks to Ingka Centres’ development plans in the city’s Mid-Market neighborhood. Ingka Centres, the Netherlands-based mall-management sister company to IKEA, purchased a six-story 256,000-s.f. glass building in the struggling neighborhood back in 2020 in order to create a new entertainment-themed mall, tentatively titled Meeting Place. More