{"id":1004798392,"date":"2026-05-12T23:15:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004798392"},"modified":"2026-05-14T07:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:59:07","slug":"ground-control-retailers-are-leaning-into-buying-their-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/ground-control-retailers-are-leaning-into-buying-their-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Ground Control: Retailers Are Leaning Into Buying Their Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Walmart has made several notable retail real estate deals over the past couple of years.
Image courtesy of Walmart<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Though there\u2019s certainly nothing new about retailers owning their own spaces, the past few years have seen a surge of acquisitions by a range of retailers, from grocery chains to luxury brands.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retail real estate experts with whom Commercial Property Executive<\/em> talked confirmed this trend, in part by largely agreeing on which retailers are active, such as Publix, Target, Walmart and a handful of luxury brands, and singling out a few of the same deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those acquisitions was Walmart\u2019s $34 million purchase of Monroeville Mall<\/a>, near Pittsburgh, in February 2025. With an annex, the mall totals about 1.2 million square feet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example was the August 2025 acquisition of Longview Mall, in East Texas, also for $34 million by Dillard\u2019s\u2014one of the mall\u2019s original anchors\u2014and Trademark Property Co.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Though some retailers have always owned their premises, Northmarq’s Feller remarked that what\u2019s different now is the scale and intent behind it. Image courtesy of Northmarq<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Though some retailers have always owned their premises, Bryn Feller, a senior vice president & managing director at Northmarq, remarked that what\u2019s different now is the scale and intent behind it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a lingering narrative that brick-and-mortar retail is in decline because of e-commerce, but when you look at actual availability, especially for larger-format space, that\u2019s just not what we\u2019re seeing. Anchor vacancy is still very tight, even after a wave of bankruptcies. A lot of those spaces have been absorbed pretty quickly by expanding tenants like Burlington, Ross and TJ Maxx,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy it\u2019s a headline these days is because the intensity of it has changed,\u201d emphasized Meghann Martindale, principal leading retail market intelligence at Avison Young. \u201cAnd there are a couple of bigger forces at play in the industry, namely just how resilient retail\u2019s been, how tight supply is, record low vacancy rates, record low new construction and high demand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the shift\u2019s broad base, Scott Schnuckel, CBRE\u2019s managing director of retail for the Americas, remarked that mass merchandisers are buying malls and redeveloping them, grocers are taking ownership stakes and luxury brands are buying flagship locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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READ ALSO<\/strong>: Why Retail Shines On: Report<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s happening is a convergence of diverse issues, said Brian Connolly, founder & CEO at Feasibly. \u201cThe market is supply constrained at the exact moment when top locations matter more than ever. New construction is muted, vacancy is low, and backfill demand for quality space is strong, which means the best sites are both scarce and getting more strategic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Meghann<\/a>
\u201cWhy it\u2019s a headline these days is because the intensity of it has changed,\u201d said Avison Young’s Martindale. Image courtesy of Avison Young<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If those factors have pushed real estate acquisitions by retailers, other factors have provided some pull. Sources describe operational flexibility as a major inducement to buy spaces, provided that retailers can handle the capital expenditures and have access to the needed capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What these factors mostly boil down to, our sources agreed, is control, both in the shorter and longer terms, underscoring evolving retail industry trends<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of this is simply access, getting control of locations that are hard to replicate,\u201d Feller said. \u201cBut the bigger driver is strategic. When you own the center, you\u2019re no longer dependent on a landlord\u2019s decisions around tenant mix, capital improvements or long-term positioning. You can shape the environment your store operates in, instead of reacting to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued, \u201cI think of it less as \u2018We want to own real estate’ and more as \u2018We\u2019re willing to own real estate if it allows us to improve or expand our operating business in a way we otherwise couldn\u2019t.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some cases,\u201d Feller continued, \u201cit\u2019s also a way to break into markets that were previously closed off. The Monroeville Mall acquisition outside Pittsburgh is a good example. Walmart had tried for years to get a traditional store approved there and ran into entitlement challenges. By acquiring the mall, they effectively created their own path into that market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LISTEN TO<\/strong>: Investment Matters: From Tech Whiz Kid to Retail CEO<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alanna Loeffler, senior managing director & retail platform lead at Cushman & Wakefield, listed some key drivers of retailers owning their assets, such as rising rents and operating costs that make long-term leases less attractive; the scarcity of prime locations, especially in urban and top-performing suburban sites; and stronger balance sheets that are giving major retailers cheaper access to capital than many landlords have.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Alanna<\/a>
\u201cBuying assets provides certainty, flexibility and financial resilience, especially for well-capitalized brands operating in a volatile retail and capital markets environment,\u201d said Cushman & Wakefield’s Loeffler. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

By owning their sites, she noted, retailers can gain permanent access to high-barrier, supply-constrained locations, eliminating renewal or displacement risk, and can also gain the freedom to optimize or evolve store formats, omnichannel uses and customer experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martindale puts the situation briefly: \u201cThe fundamentals are contributing to this intensification because the retailers who have the access to capital can go, \u2018Nope, game changer, whole new playbook, whole new strategy. We can just go in and buy the thing.\u2019 And then that gives them a little bit more flexibility in terms of what their opportunities are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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