Recent years have seen the rise of these so-called lifestyle hubs: mixed-use spaces often situated outdoors and anchored by tenants such as restaurants and cafes.
The trend of brands flocking to these destinations has only been exacerbated by pandemic-era habits like hybrid work schedules and people moving to suburban areas. These centers are also often attached to or located within walking distance of residential properties, making them ideal for a downtown-like lifestyle. With lifestyle centers, developers and retail tenants alike are building properties they expect to suit all parts of the day and week, from work to play.
Lifestyle centers are typically more like urban boulevards than suburban malls and indoor malls. And unlike traditional malls, tenants in these centers offer a mix of shopping, daily entertainment such as dinner theaters, spas, and even co-working spaces. The most recent example of such centers includes The Superette at Boston Seaport, which opened last summer. The concept of the center is designed as a European-style tree-lined courtyard, dotted with digital native brands such as Lunya and Framebridge, alongside local cafes, bars and restaurants. The design intent is to get people walking past the boutiques and retailers as they go about their daily activities, whether it’s exercising or getting a manicure. These high-traffic areas, according to young brands entering retail, make lifestyle centers more attractive than generic malls.
A new take on shopping center design
Ron Thurston, author of Retail Pride and a former executive at Bonobos and Tory Burch, said the emerging design of these lifestyle centers has been a long time coming.
“The traditional mall design of a closed building with dozens of retailers, a food court and department stores is one way that retail is changing,” Thurston said. He explained that “a lifestyle center can be many different things, but at its core it is that they are often outdoors, where sunlight, fresh air and energy fill the space.”
These hubs are now often anchored in popular fast casual restaurants and entertainment venues compared to the traditional megaplexes and cheap fast food courts of yesteryear. Most importantly, Thurston said, “these centers feel like a bigger part of the community and a reminder of when Main Street was at the center of every city in America.”
Developers have noticed the growing interest in these kinds of shopping and entertainment concepts.
An example of a developer bucking the lifestyle center trend is Federal Realty, which develops dozens of lifestyle centers along the East Coast, such as CocoWalk at Coconut Grove in Miami neighborhood. Stuart Biel, senior vice president of regional leasing, told Modern Retail that the mixed-use and lifestyle shopping center category is outperforming other shopping center designs in his portfolio.
CocoWalk first opened in 1990 as an outdoor mall and for years had trouble attracting tenants and shoppers. For years as a cruise ship shopping stop, “so we wanted to give it back to the locals,” Biel said. Now, the post-Covid hybrid workplace is top of mind for the developer, Biel explained.
Over the past two years, Federal has overhauled CocoWalk by locating its core tenants, while also optimizing it into a mixed-use destination serving new and existing residents who have moved to Miami amid the pandemic. Today, CocoWalk in particular is attractive to new tenants because of its walkable, green design, Biel said. And the post-Covid hybrid workplace is now top of mind for its developer, Biel explained.
That means embracing the neighborhood’s Latino influence, Biel said. For example, now out of fashion restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory were replaced by the vegan restaurant Plant Queen. “We also brought Narbona, a beloved Uruguayan market chain to Miami, and the trendy Mister o1 Extraordinary Pizza,” she said. New York City-based Chinese chain RedFarm will also join CocoWalk later in the year. “We’ve also redeveloped part of it to have a Class A office building, which is attracting employers moving to Miami,” Biel said.
The attraction behind the lifestyle center
Currently, several young brands are focusing on opening stores in this type of complex. These include third love Y Madison Reed, which plans to close the year with 80 color salons throughout the country.
Louisa Schneider, founder of the Rowan piercing studio, said that as she scouted for new locations, these lifestyle centers have been noted for their bustling activity. “We found that the places where our customers go, not just to shop but also to experience, is where we thrive,” she said.
Two of Rowan’s upcoming stores are located in popular lifestyle centers: Shops at Southlake near Dallas and CocoWalk in Coconut Grove in Miami. One of the main reasons these are considered mixed-use lifestyle malls is the even divide between leisure destinations and retail store tenants. For example, CocoWalk’s extensive list of spa and beauty centers includes the recently opened GlossLab, 3D Brow Studio and Barba Skin Clinic. Schneider said these kinds of neighboring tenants help drive more traffic to like-minded destinations like Rowan.
“These two areas are experiencing a massive influx of population growth and that growth is from families moving to put down new roots,” he said. Rowan’s customer demographics are typically made up of friends and family celebrating milestones, so the retail strategy focuses on high foot traffic and highly engaged locals who visit their local lifestyle centers throughout the week. .
“We are drawn to outdoor lifestyle centers that invest heavily in their own marketing and activities,” he said, highlighting local activities such as Christmas markets, yoga workshops or even pumpkin carving events. “Our stores in Avalon in Alpharetta Georgia and in the Scottsdale Quarter are excellent examples of these types of centers,” said Schneider.
Additionally, the company is currently looking at leasing lifestyle centers that serve both suburban families and nearby college students. Schneider named Rowan’s WestBend studio, near Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, as the latest successful example of the brand tapping into this group of young customers.
Alex Faherty, co-founder and CEO of clothing brand Faherty, said the brand will open its next set of stores inside lifestyle centers. These destinations have helped Faherty quickly gain a following in these new stores. “We really focused on stores located in neighborhoods with hubs that have community activations, restaurants, and a great outdoor environment,” he said.
Outside of the brand’s handful of urban stores, Faherty said the company has been gravitating “towards suburban locations, as that’s where our client now lives with their families.”
In particular, Faherty has focused on lifestyle centers to cater to this new demographic. “We believe these centers give us more opportunities to meet new customers while connecting with current ones,” Faherty said, especially given the brand’s casual lifestyle vibe. “A great example of this is our store on the Lido in Newport Beach,” she added. Upcoming Faherty stores will open in similar self-described lifestyle hubs: Seaport Square in Boston, One Paseo in San Diego and Malibu Cross Creek in Southern California.
That’s why the refreshed design has made Coconut Grove one of the most popular malls for emerging retailers. “Digital native brands are typically more flexible on location, but want to be where customers eat, drink and socialize,” Biel said. He pointed to Bethesda Road in Maryland as an early example of a lifestyle center that Federal developed 20 years ago. Other Federal developments include Santana Row in Silicon Valley, Assembly Row in the Boston area and the upcoming Darien Commons in Connecticut.
“While we don’t use a traffic meter, activity has been incredible in the last six to 12 months, and many tenants are outpacing 2019 sales,” Biel said, noting that the center is seeing increasingly consistent traffic. during the day and on weekdays. “The main customer is here four or five days a week, whether it’s at the office, exercising or going to happy hour.”
Source: news.google.com