For many years, downtown malls have been more profitable, attracting office-goers and tourists congregating in city centres, while suburban malls have been relegated to the role of poor relations.
The coronavirus pandemic is turning that on its head.
“A lot of people who used to commute to downtowns on a daily basis are not anymore,” said Tim Sanderson, head of Canadian retail at real estate services firm JLL in Toronto. “Where are they getting dry cleaning done, picking up dinner? … They’re doing it in their suburban shopping centre.”
Traffic in Canadian suburban malls owned by Cadillac Fairview, the property unit of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is now at more than 70% of pre-pandemic levels, while less than half of shoppers have returned to its downtown malls, Executive Vice President of Operations Sal Ianoco told Reuters.
The same story reverberates around the globe.
In the UK, foot traffic was down 40% and 34.6%, respectively, in high streets and shopping centres in mid-October compared with a year earlier, while retail parks saw a decline of only 13.2% from last year, data from analytics firm Springboard showed.