Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | November 9, 2020 | wbjournal.com F A C T B O O K M A L L S T he Natick Mall could be the envy of most shopping malls anywhere: more than 200 stores, a whole wing devoted to luxury retail shops, and a location amid the Boston area's wealthy western suburbs. e mall, though, is not immune from the challenges facing retail – a long-run- ning shrinking of storefronts nationally made far more acute by the coronavirus pandemic. e Natick Mall will soon face the departure of two of its anchors – Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor – at a time when so much shopping has shied online, at least temporarily. e Natick Mall isn't alone. Next door, Shoppers World in Framing- ham still has vacancies from Bob's Stores, Babies 'R' Us and Joe's American Bar & Grill leaving. Across the street, a former Michaels arts and cras store sits empty. Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough – which lists about 15 vacancies – is indefi- nitely without its movie theater complex, aer Regal said in early October it was closing all of its locations. e Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster has lost its State of our malls A difficult time for retail BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Macy's, aer having lost a few dozen tenants in the past five years. "It's all going online," Bill Manley, the CEO and founder of real estate invest- ment firm Calare Properties of Framing- ham. "When you go to a mall right now, it's kind of a ghost town." Even outdoor plazas, which benefit from both the safety of the outdoors and longer-term trends favoring them over indoor malls, are having challenges. Lincoln Plaza in Worcester has three vacant storefronts in a row: Staples, Barnes & Noble and A.C. Moore, as well as a Ruby Tuesday. Northborough Crossing has vacancies from where Jos. A Bank, Dress Barn and Charming Charlie once had stores. A shopping center on Route 9 in Shrewsbury has lost two adjacent tenants this year: Bed, Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports. A national crisis Central Massachusetts shopping centers aren't alone in their struggles, of course. More than 8,000 retail stores have closed so far this year, according to the New York firm Coresight Research, with only roughly 3,400 store openings to partially offset that troubling number. Roughly 9,500 retail stores closed last year, when the economy was still grow- ing strong, according to the business A Bed, Bath & Beyond and a Pier 1 Imports stand empty adjacent to one another in a shopping plaza on Route 9 in Shrewsbury. PHOTOS/GRANT WELKER website MoneyWise. As of September, roughly 129 million square feet of retail space nationally had or was closing, according to the Wash- ington D.C. analytics firm CoStar. Lord & Taylor is one in a group of no- table retailers to file for bankruptcy since the coronavirus pandemic began, along with J. Crew, JCPenney, GNC, Brooks Brothers and Tailored Brands, the parent company of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank. More vacancies may well be on the way. Gap, for example, said in October it would close 350 locations of its flagship stores and Banana Republic. e health store GNC is down to five Central Mas- sachusetts locations, and Men's Wear- house is down to four. ose closures have had a clear effect on local malls. e Mall at Whitney Field, for example, lists 43 tenants today, The Greendale Mall in Worcester is mostly vacant, with preliminary redevelopment plans for remaking the site uncertain.

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