U.S. shopping malls are seeing foot traffic return to pre-pandemic levels. Real estate observers are calling it a surprising rebound.
Indoor shopping malls have suffered since the start of the pandemic as consumers favored outdoor venues and e-commerce. But this summer, mall foot traffic started to return, according to new data from Placer.ai, which reflects 100 indoor and 100 outdoor shopping centers. July was the first month that mall traffic reached, and in some cases rose slightly above, 2019 figures, according to the site’s research as reported by the Commercial Observer.
Traffic is predicted to continue to increase as back-to-school sales lure shoppers.
Some shopping malls are seeing even higher traffic than before the pandemic began, especially those that have been renovated over the last three years. Shopping centers in suburban areas are recovering faster than those in urban areas. Vacancies in indoor malls will likely continue to be higher than those in suburban shopping centers and strip malls for the remainder of the year, the Commercial Observer reported.