Compass Point said the top 30 malls in the U.S., based on tenants’ annual sales and the underlying real estate were valued at more than $57 billion total before the pandemic.
Before the coronavirus hit, America’s most valuable malls were driving billions of dollars in sales annually, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to local tax coffers.
Now, nobody knows what those numbers are going to look like coming out of the Covid-19 crisis — other than definitely being a lot less.
Malls started temporarily shutting down in March to try to help curb the spread of the virus. In some states, such as New York, malls have still not been able to completely reopen. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for example, has said that New York malls will need high-quality air systems that can filter out the coronavirus before they will be allowed to open their doors again.
Many shoppers, meantime, are hesitant to return to malls after staying at home and practicing social distancing. And some smaller shops and entertainment venues like movie theaters are not jumping to reopen right away, even if the mall is back open for business and department store lights are on.
Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette said during a conference call earlier this week: “In the malls that are open, many of the other stores and services remain closed. This does impact our store traffic.”
Some companies are beginning to close their doors in malls for a second time, as Covid-19 cases rise in parts of the country. Apple is reshutting dozens of stores in states like Florida and South Carolina. And Microsoft has said it plans to close all of its bricks-and-mortar stores for good, pivoting its business to 100% online.
This all spells trouble for America’s malls, even the best of the best.
An analysis by the independent investment firm Compass Point found the top 30 malls in the U.S., based on tenants’ annual sales and the underlying real estate, were valued at more than $57 billion and contributed an estimated $1.8 billion of annual tax revenue to states, pre-Covid-19.
