Big Boxes: Going, Going, Gone
Jul 8, 2015
As published in GlobeSt.com
Christopher M. Gibbons is the director of project leasing with Venture Commercial Real Estate, a retail brokerage firm based in Dallas. Gibbons recently spoke to GlobeSt.com’s Anna Caplan about trends in the retail market.
GlobeSt.com: How is the consolidation of big-box retailers affecting the North Texas CRE market?
Gibbons: Many retail property owners are concerned that recent consolidation among big-box retailers, including bookstores, grocers, toy stores, office and computer supply stores, has created too much inventory. This is certainly not the case in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. In fact, we are actually finding it hard to find available anchor space, boxes are being absorbed by a variety of new users ranging from specialty grocers and gyms to furniture discounters and medical centers.
GlobeSt.com: What retailers and what categories are buying or leasing these boxes?
Gibbons: At Venture, we are down to our last few dispositions in our representation of Albertsons/Klaff Realty, having leased or sold more than 69 boxes and tracts of and across North Texas, with a total consideration in excess of $183 million. Throughout this relationship and with other disposition clients, we have replaced dark boxes with new specialty grocers including Walmart Neighborhood Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods and The Fresh Market. We have also backfilled boxes with other users including churches, call centers, community colleges, theaters and fitness centers.
In Colleyville, a Studio Movie Grill dine-in theater has opened after extensive renovations to the former Colleyville Cinema. In Dallas, a new LA Fitness facility now stands on the site of a former Borders Books and Music store. WinCo Foods has taken advantage of available boxes to facilitate their entry and expansion into the D/FW market. They have leased or bought boxes and built new stores in Fort Worth, McKinney, Duncanville, North Richland Hills and Lewisville, with more stores planned.
Other retailers filling boxes in recent years include Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods, Cooper Street Antique Mall, Dallas Can! Academy, JumpStreet, South MacArthur Church of Christ and JPS Health Network.
GlobeSt.com: What trends do you see in the next few years for anchor and junior anchor spaces?
Gibbons: Retail and non-retail users are learning they must be flexible with size requirements. We can expect to see more “right-sizing,” a strategy that Venture client Northern Tool + Equipment has been using successfully across the U.S. On the grocery front, Albertsons’ acquisition of Market Street by United and Tom Thumb may result in some additional closing of those stores in the next 18 months. The proposed merger of Office Depot and Staples could also result in additional closures in the coming year.