Is Real Estate Poised To Save Retail?

There may be some retailers who’d just like to break up with malls, considering the troubling slowdown in footfall. But the mall may be wooing them back with a proposal to serve them, not just as landlord, but also as owner. While that might seem like a drastic move, it’s one that Simon and GGP (now owned by Brookfield) along with licensing firm Authentic Brands Group, made back in 2016, when they muscled past private equity firm Sycamore Partners with a $243 million bid to take over teen apparel retailer Aeropostale at its bankruptcy auction. Just a couple weeks later, various rent-reduction deals helped to keep 400 of the brand’s North American stores open — about 75% more than previously estimated. Read more at Retail Dive.