Shop space across the country remains difficult to find, and some properties have waiting lists for properties that become available, according to Anjee Solanki, the head of United States retail at global brokerage Colliers.
Retail space is at a premium due to the combination of peak occupancy levels at open-air properties and malls and a drop in the already relatively low amount of new retail construction, Solanki said in an interview at the ICSC Las Vegas industry convention this week.
The lack of available retail space is "actually quite shocking," she said.
While demand for space remains strong, so does the appetite for consumer goods and services, Solanki said. In April, year-over-year retail sales increased 5.2%, boosted by a prolonged Easter season and a bump in shopping in anticipation of potential fallout from the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed across the globe, Toronto-based Colliers said in a report.
As for brick-and-mortar retail, more than 18,900 new stores opened between 2018 and 2023, fueled partly by new international retailers coming to the U.S., according to another new Colliers report.
Watch the video to hear Solanki, who's based in San Francisco, discuss how uncertainty about the economy could affect retail sales.