Black Friday, Weekend Shopper Traffic Better Than Last Year in Many U.S. Malls

According to a new survey by CBRE of personnel at 14 of the major U.S. malls and large-format retail centers that CBRE manages found the following regarding results from this Thanksgiving weekend's holiday shopping season:

• Roughly two thirds of the properties reported shopper foot traffic on Friday and Saturday that either slightly or significantly exceeded that from the same weekend last year. CBRE personnel based their measurements on a combination of vehicle counts, shopper counts and firsthand assessments by center management.

• Big traffic drivers included movie theaters, restaurants, and events and experiences such as Santa visits, tree-lighting ceremonies, and holiday markets featuring local merchants for Small Business Saturday

• Retailers that drew strong traffic included mobile-phone stores, beauty supply retailers and national apparel retailers.

Meghann Martindale, CBRE Global Head of Retail Research reports, "The 2019 holiday retail season appears to be off to a healthy start. Shoppers at CBRE-managed centers responded en masse to retailers' offers of discounts and promotions. And the efforts of several centers to position themselves as dining and entertainment destinations, in addition to shopping venues, resonated through the holiday season.
 
"E-commerce has changed the complexion of Black Friday a bit in that door-buster promotions don't always involve a physical door anymore. Rather, shoppers are using both online and brick-and-mortar channels through the full cycle of their purchase, including buying merchandise online and picking it up in the store, and returning to the store items bought online. Many still enjoy the tradition and social interaction of hunting for bargains with family and friends at stores on Black Friday, and that showed in the feedback we received from centers we manage."