The need by many retailers for smaller stores has left some landlords with awkwardly shaped spots to fill, but owners are rising to the challenge, panelists noted at an SCTLive event in Boston this week titled “Solutions for Hard-to-fill Spaces.”
Empty big-boxes and department stores in particular remain a problem. Panelists recommended recruiting nontraditional users such as glow-in-the-dark golfing concept GlowGolf, which is taking over mall anchor spaces and empty big boxes around the U.S., and such swimming-oriented concepts for children as AquaTots Swim Schools and GoldFish Swim School. Such uses may not pay as high rent as the previous tenants, but they can help drive a center’s connection to the community, said Lesley Dokos, retail leasing and development at the Boston office of Edens. “If you’ve got a spot that’s been vacant for years go out into the community and figure out how to turn the lights on,” she said, pointing to an Edens property in West Hartford, Conn., that recently teamed up with local parents to put a teen-friendly hangout in a long-vacant space.
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