Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty is pleased to announce that Shaw’s Apple Tree Shopping Center on Rte.102 in Londonderry, N.H. is now totally renovated and 100% leased.
Summer has come and gone, and it sure seems like it went fast. We recorded the wettest June and July here in the Northeast, while our friends in the west are experiencing record droughts, heat and forest fires. With COVID-19 on the rise again thanks to the delta variant, things are just as crazy, if not more so, now. With back-to-school mask policies varying greatly between states, counties and towns and the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, political division across the country seems to be at a peak.
For all of the continued reporting that retail is dead and won’t ever come back to pre-COVID levels, or that all the tenants have gone away, it’s a wonderfully positive and inspiring contradiction we are experiencing in New Hampshire. It’s not just New Hampshire, either - we are seeing the same thing in many parts of New England and across the United States.
July showed some promising numbers when we took a look at our monthly report!
The number of lease transactions are (WAY) up from last month. On top of lease transactions being up, we also saw that leases were being signed at 107% of the asking lease rate which is good news for landlords!
Not surprisingly retailers are a litttttle leery signing new leases in the midst of a pandemic. Even with businesses beginning to open up across the country in May and June, there are still too many unknowns out there.
Among those questions are:
Could this be the jab to the throat brick-and-mortar retail was trying to avoid? Back in February forecasts were predicting that U.S. retail would see moderate growth somewhere around 2.8% in 2020. This was PC (pre-COVID), of course. Now, the newest available data is showing that U.S. retail sales will most likely decline 10.5% this year, and those getting hit the hardest will be brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Even with a strong Holiday season at the end of 2019, brick and mortar stores have been struggling to increase in-store sales and compete with online giants. Coming into 2020, experts anticipated that there were going to be a number of store closings in addition to the previously announced upcoming closings.
The Revival of Brick & Mortar Shopping this Holiday Season
Wednesday, November 27th, 2019
Lindsey Goodrich
This year’s holiday season is looking favorable for retailers. With the economy, household incomes and employment levels holding steady, ICSC is anticipating a 4.9% increase over last year’s $832.3 billion holiday sales. The average American adult is expected to spend nearly $700 on holiday-related items including gifts and decorations.