Why it exists
Retail REITs own shopping centers and storefront properties.
Why it’s necessary
Physical commerce still matters for food, service, convenience, and experiential shopping.
Key components
Grocery-anchored centers
Malls & lifestyle centers
Inline retail shops
National and local tenants
How to evaluate businesses
Tenant quality, e-commerce vulnerability, rent collections, and redevelopment potential matter most. Grocery-anchored centers outperform discretionary retail.
How the industry could be improved
Omnichannel integration, experiential tenant mixes, micro-fulfillment nodes inside centers, and adaptive re-tenanting for service-heavy retail.