Report: Providence-area malls have high vacancy rates for anchor stores

RHODE ISLAND MALL has been sold to a Baltimore company with a history of revamping distressed retail properties. A recent report said that shopping centers and malls in the Providence area have one of the nation's highest vacancy rates for anchor stores.  / FLICKR.COM
RHODE ISLAND MALL has been sold to a Baltimore company with a history of revamping distressed retail properties. A recent report said that shopping centers and malls in the Providence area have one of the nation's highest vacancy rates for anchor stores. / FLICKR.COM

PROVIDENCE – Shopping centers and malls in the Providence area have one of the nation’s highest vacancy rates for anchor stores, according to an analysis by Pitney Bowes and the Directory of Major Malls.
Providence shared billing with Memphis, Tenn. for lowest-occupancy rate for anchor locations, with 86 percent occupied, according to the report.
The occupancy rate analysis is seen as an assessment of overall shopping center vitality, according to Gary Faitler, a senior manager of client services for Pitney Bowes, and a co-author of the report.
The report did not investigate why certain shopping centers had greater occupancy rates among anchors than others, he said, or try to determine whether vacancies were temporary. The Providence market would include all shopping centers larger than 200,000 square-feet in an area that includes Warwick, Cranston and surrounding areas in Massachusetts, including North Attleboro.
The study compared trends in 54 markets in the United States, including areas with populations of at least 1.5 million.
In the comparison of anchor occupancy levels, Providence and Memphis had the lowest rates of the communities. Greenville, S.C. had the highest occupancy rate, at 97.7 percent, followed by Albuquerque, N.M., 97.6 percent; Minneapolis, 97.2 percent; and San Diego, 96.7 percent.
The report found Providence was among the most “consistent” or balanced of the large markets, based on household growth and supply of retail stores.

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