{"id":1004169683,"date":"2017-03-17T03:46:11","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T11:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004169683"},"modified":"2020-05-21T21:49:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T05:49:17","slug":"fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gail Kalinoski<\/em><\/p>\n

New York<\/strong>\u2014There\u2019s no doubt retailers in the United States are facing challenges, many of them due to the growth of e-commerce and how it is affecting the nation\u2019s malls and shopping centers and ultimately the bottom lines of top retail companies. In a new report, \u201cWhat Investors Want to Know: U.S. Retail,\u201d Fitch Ratings analysts address those concerns and find that despite some problems, there could be opportunities for the strongest players.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>

David Silverman, senior director, U.S. Corporates at Fitch Ratings<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe mall retail landscape will evolve significantly over the next few years but remain a viable shopping destination as part of a broader omnichannel strategy,\u201d David Silverman, senior director, U.S. Corporates, and one of the study\u2019s authors, said in a prepared statement. \u201cConsumers still want the option of an in-store experience, but retailers will have to rethink how they\u2019re using their square footage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitch notes that most of the questions from recent meetings with high-yield investors focused on \u201cchanging shopping habits due to the rise of online and discount models.\u201d The sector that garnered the most questions and discussion was mall-based apparel, including department stores and specialty retailers. Many of these retailers are already losing sales and market share to fast-fashion and off-price stores. The report states mid-tier specialty apparel retailers face additional challenges than department stores, partly due to weak mall traffic as well as the rise of online apparel sellers.<\/p>\n

The report addressed the recent large-scale closure announcements made by Macy\u2019s and J.C. Penney and effects those losses will have on malls, but still \u201cexpects the financially and operationally stronger department stores, such as Macy\u2019s, Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl\u2019s Corp., to at least maintain their share of the apparel and accessories space over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stronger malls will survive the loss of large department stores as they re-tenant with big-box retailers not typically associated with indoor malls. Those tenants could include grocery stores, dining and entertainment complexes, fitness centers, offices and medical space. But the report notes that more closures expected in 2017, especially among department stores, \u201ccould result in significant changes to traffic trends and economics at the weakest of affected malls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitch also expects that despite the rise of omnichannel sales, approximately 70 percent of all retail sales (except auto, gas and food) will happen in stores by 2020, down from roughly 80 percent today \u201cbut still representing a majority of purchase occasions. Moreover, many online purchases are influenced by a store visit or brand recognition from its physical presence, which should benefit stronger brick and mortar retailers with broad geographic presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for single-category retail, the report said sectors like vitamins, sporting goods and pet retail have been facing the most competition from alternative channels, particularly discount and online channels. But it\u2019s also a sector that has seen large participants like Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods, PetSmart and GNC Holdings, continue to add square footage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreased store counts, coupled with rising competition from alternate channels, is exacerbating the demand\/supply imbalance and has begun to create challenges for sector issuers,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

Fitch notes those sectors that are \u201cmost protected\u201d from online competition include grocery and dollar stores, craft and party supplies, drug retailers, auto parts, home improvement and large consumer electronics and appliances. The report said service is an important component of those sectors that are able to drive traffic into their stores. Customers appreciate the experience of shopping in stores such as Sally Beauty Holdings, where shoppers can get beauty advice from stores associates \u201cwho provide help in trying out the products before making a purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ratings firm cited retailers like Nordstrom, Wal-Mart and Neiman Marcus, that have invested extensively in technology, supply chain infrastructure and inventory systems to boost their omnichannel offerings.<\/p>\n

The full report is available at www.fitchratings.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How the growth of e-commerce is affecting the nation\u2019s malls and shopping centers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1068,"featured_media":1004169693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1576,21808,21783,23891,1600,21742,21749],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004169683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cities","category-featured","category-investment","category-national","category-new-york","category-latest","category-retail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How the growth of e-commerce is affecting the nation\u2019s malls and shopping centers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"802\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gail Kalinoski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gail Kalinoski\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57\"},\"headline\":\"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":657,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/David-Silverman.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cities\",\"Featured\",\"Investment\",\"National\",\"New York\",\"News\",\"Retail\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/David-Silverman.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/David-Silverman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/David-Silverman.jpg\",\"width\":802,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"David Silverman, senior director, U.S. Corporates\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57\",\"name\":\"Gail Kalinoski\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/46\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86\",\"caption\":\"Gail Kalinoski\"},\"description\":\"Kalinoski has been a contributing writer to Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News since 2010 and previously wrote for three years for Commercial Property News. Gail has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 20 years, contributing to daily websites, magazines, weekly business newspapers, market intelligence newsletters, research reports, monthly B-to-B and consumer magazines. Earlier in her career, Gail worked for Gannett Corp. as an editor and reporter for 15 years. Gail has a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism from Pace University.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/gail-kalinoski\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers - Commercial Property Executive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers","og_description":"How the growth of e-commerce is affecting the nation\u2019s malls and shopping centers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":802,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gail Kalinoski","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/"},"author":{"name":"Gail Kalinoski","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57"},"headline":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers","datePublished":"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/"},"wordCount":657,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","articleSection":["Cities","Featured","Investment","National","New York","News","Retail"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/","name":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-17T11:46:11+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-22T05:49:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","width":802,"height":600,"caption":"David Silverman, senior director, U.S. Corporates"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/fitch-challenges-opportunities-ahead-for-strongest-retailers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fitch: Challenges, Opportunities Ahead for Strong Retailers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fc5b5df1393e5023d2417bd48c2fda57","name":"Gail Kalinoski","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/04\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/04\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/04\/Gail-Kalinoski-headshot.jpeg?w=86","caption":"Gail Kalinoski"},"description":"Kalinoski has been a contributing writer to Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News since 2010 and previously wrote for three years for Commercial Property News. Gail has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 20 years, contributing to daily websites, magazines, weekly business newspapers, market intelligence newsletters, research reports, monthly B-to-B and consumer magazines. Earlier in her career, Gail worked for Gannett Corp. as an editor and reporter for 15 years. Gail has a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism from Pace University.","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/gail-kalinoski\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/03\/David-Silverman.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004169683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1068"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004169683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004169683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004450740,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004169683\/revisions\/1004450740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004169693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004169683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004169683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004169683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}