In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. [1] They are typically located at the ends of malls, sometimes in the middle. With their broad appeal, they are intended to attract a significant cross-section of the shopping public to the center. They are often offered steep discounts on rent in exchange for signing long-term leases in order to provide steady cash flows for the mall owners.
Some examples of anchor stores in the United States are: Macy's, Sears, JCPenney, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard's, Kohl's, Walmart, and Target. And in Canada; Hudson's Bay, Sears (formerly), Target (formerly), Zellers (formerly, now in all Hudson’s Bay locations), Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack (formerly), TJX Companies (HomeSense, Winners, Marshalls), Walmart, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sporting Life.
When the planned shopping centre format was developed by Victor Gruen in the early to mid-1950s, signing larger department stores was necessary for the financial stability of the projects, and to draw retail traffic that would result in visits to the smaller shops in the centre as well. Anchors generally have their rents heavily discounted, and may even receive cash inducements from the centre to remain open.
Early on, grocery stores were a common type of anchor store, since they are visited often. However, research on consumer behavior revealed that most trips to the grocery store did not result in visits to surrounding shops [ citation needed ]. Large supermarkets remain common anchor stores within power centers however.
Since the end of the 20th century, The declining popularity of old-line department stores has made it necessary for mall management companies to consider re-anchoring with other retail alternatives, or mix commercial development with residential development to guarantee a captive clientele.
The challenges faced by the traditional large department stores have led to a resurgence in the use of supermarkets, [2] even gyms, [3] as anchors.
The International Council of Shopping Centers makes the presence of anchors one of the main defining characteristics of the two largest categories of centres, the regional center with 400,000 to 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) in gross leasable area, and the superregional center with more than 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of space.
The regional center typically has two or more anchors, while the superregional typically has three or more.
In each case, the anchors account for 50–70% of the centre's leasable space. [4]
Shopping centres with anchor stores have consistently outperformed those without one, as the anchor helps draw shoppers initially attracted to the anchor to shop at other shops in the mall. [5] Thus, a mall which loses its last anchor is often considered to be a dead mall.
A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in Commonwealth English, shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza, or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. Many of them face major traffic arterials and tend to be self-contained with few pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods. Smaller strip malls may be called mini-malls, while larger ones may be called power centers or big box centers. In 2013, The New York Times reported that the United States had 65,840 strip malls. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal wrote that in the United States, despite the continuing retail apocalypse that started in around 2010, investments and visitor numbers were increasing to strip malls.
Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs.
Buena Park Downtown, formerly Buena Park Mall, is an enclosed shopping mall located on La Palma Avenue in Buena Park, California, United States, near Knott's Berry Farm. As of 2007 it is the 20th largest mall in Orange County, with around 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of retail space.
A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.
Burlington Mall is a shopping mall located in Burlington, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1968. Anchor stores are Nordstrom and Macy's, with one vacant anchor building formerly housing Lord & Taylor. The mall currently includes retailers Primark, Fabletics, Madewell, Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, and Kate Spade New York.
Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping centres in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in cities across Canada. Each mall contained an Eaton's store, or was in close proximity to an Eaton's store, and typically the mall itself carried the "Eaton Centre" name. These joint ventures were a significant retail development trend in Canada during that period.
South Edmonton Common is one of Canada's largest retail power centres, and when it will be completely developed, it will spread over 320 acres (130 ha) and contain some 2,300,000 square feet (210,000 m2) of retail space, making it one of the largest open-air retail developments in North America. The Common is located in south Edmonton, Alberta, extending from 23rd Avenue south to Anthony Henday Drive, and east from Gateway Boulevard to Parsons Road.
Dulles Town Center is a two-level enclosed shopping mall in Sterling in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located five miles (8.0 km) north of Washington Dulles International Airport. It is part of the Dulles Town Center census-designated place for population statistical purposes.
Valley View Mall is an 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2) regional shopping mall located in the Roundhill neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It is located near the interchange of Interstate 581/U.S. Route 220 with Hershberger Road in the northwest section of the city.
Greengate Centre is an open-air power center in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 30. The center opened in 2005 on the site of the defunct Greengate Mall, which was demolished in 2003. Greengate Centre currently encompasses over 430,000 square feet (40,000 m2) of retail space, and more than 45 stores and restaurants. Anchor stores include Jo-Ann Fabrics, Petco, Ross Dress for Less, and Walmart. It also contains dozens of smaller retailers such as Five Below, GameStop, Lane Bryant, General Nutrition Centers, Oshkosh B'gosh, and Verizon Wireless. The Kroenke Group of Columbia, Missouri owns and manages the shopping center.
Westfield Montgomery is a shopping mall in Bethesda, Maryland. Major tenants include Macy's, Macy's Home, and Nordstrom, as well as specialty brands such as Fabletics, Madewell, Vineyard Vines, and Untuckit.
CF Markville, also known as Markville Shopping Centre in the Cadillac Fairview chain of malls, is a shopping mall of over 140 stores in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Highway 7 East and McCowan Road, and runs along Bullock Drive, located slightly west of McCowan Road. Its anchors are Hudson's Bay, Winners, Walmart Supercentre, Decathlon, Sporting Life, Marshalls, Uniqlo, Best Buy, and a Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us combo store. It has a gross leasable area of 981,000 square feet (91,100 m2). It was the largest shopping mall in York Region until 2004 when Vaughan Mills opened.
Mainland City Centre, formerly known as Mall of the Mainland, is now a Premier Entertainment & Lifestyle Center located off the Emmett F. Lowry Expressway near Interstate 45 in Texas City, Texas. It was opened in 1991. The mall has 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of space. The mall closed in late 2014 due to declining tenancy before its redevelopment began in 2015. Purchased by Jerome Karam, a prevalent Friendswood attorney and developer, specializing in restoring and repurposing large commercial properties – utilizing their existing architecture and bringing new life to the space – this iconic piece of Texas City history has undergone a complete revitalization since joining the JMK5 Holdings portfolio. Over the course of five years, it has become home to Texas Entertainment Xperience (TEX), the largest entertainment center in Texas, the country’s largest World Gym, 33 fully furnished executive suites, Mainland City Suites, education facilities, and 9 award winning restaurants, making up Mainland City Centre’s Restaurant Row, with access to future festival grounds and outdoor entertainment facility.
Pacific View Mall is a regional, enclosed mall located on the West Coast in Ventura, California. It covers a leasable area of almost 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2).
This is a list of small shopping centres in the island of Montreal.
Seaway Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Welland, Ontario, Canada. The mall has 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of space and includes tenants such as Sport Chek, Cineplex Entertainment, Winners and Shoppers Drug Mart.
Northern Lights Shopping Center is a strip mall located in Baden, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. It was a major power center-style strip mall from its opening until the early 2000's. A Walmart opened on the adjacent lot to Northern Lights in 2014. Parts of the plaza were demolished in 2018.
A power center or big-box center is a shopping center with typically 250,000 to 600,000 square feet of gross leasable area that usually contains three or more big box anchor tenants and various smaller retailers, where the anchors occupy 75–90% of the total area.