The Week In News, But Shorter
May 12 – 18, 2025

While we usually keep the tone upbeat, there’s no sugarcoating the reality: the uncertainties of 2025 are weighing heavily across the retail landscape. Consumers are shifting spending toward value-focused options and secondhand platforms. Retailers are responding with downsizing and closures, and inevitably, the impact is landing on retail property owners. A sobering report from The Wall Street Journal this week signals that the rest of the year could be tough—though vacancies remain low, leasing is slowing, and landlord concessions are on the rise. Now more than ever, it’s essential to double down on making your property stand out. This week’s other headlines reinforce a critical theme: technology is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s the differentiator that can attract and retain the tenants best positioned for the future.

As we grapple with some of these realities, it will be great to come together as a community at ICSC in Las Vegas this week. If you are here now and want to meet up, let us know on LinkedIn. In the meantime, catch up on the other headlines below, including how surfing and bouncing could potentially drive business at your property.

Digital Meets Physical

Why retail’s e-commerce disruption era is over [RetailDive] Retail is in yet another period of upheaval: A trade war is roiling consumers, enabling inflation and fueling speculation about a recession. Yet in many ways the industry has also entered a period of stability, according to a report Monday from commercial real estate firm Colliers. This is because e-commerce is no longer the destablizing force it once was.

InPost and ASOS launch nationwide next-day locker delivery service [FashionUnited] InPost UK has entered into an exclusive partnership with online fashion retailer ASOS to launch a nationwide next-day delivery service to lockers, marking a development in out-of-home (OOH) e-commerce logistics in the UK.

Walmart Is Preparing to Welcome Its Next Customer: The AI Shopping Agent [The Wall Street Journal] Walmart is thinking about how to adapt as consumers begin using AI agents to shop for them. Advertising will have to evolve to appeal to AI agents, says Walmart U.S. CTO Hari Vasudev. Walmart is building its own shopping agents for its app and website.

How AI is Transforming Retail Globally [Realty+] Shopping centers, once defined by bustling crowds and window displays, are undergoing a massive transformation with AI at the core of innovation. As consumer preferences shift toward personalized, tech-driven experiences, AI is redefining everything from store layouts and inventory management to customer engagement and security.

Why dollar stores are embracing delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash [ModernRetail] “It signals a major step forward in bringing more value-focused choices to delivery,” Bernheim said in an interview, adding that people are looking for ways to stretch their dollars without sacrificing convenience. “Everyday options matter now more than ever.”

Delivery reliability trumps speed for some e-commerce retailers [SupplyChainDive] Clear communication and on-time delivery are a bigger driver of buyer satisfaction than speed, executives said at Supply Chain Dive and Retail Dive’s live event on May 7, “The state of e-commerce delivery.”

PropTalk

Rest of Year Isn’t Looking Good for Retail-Property Market [The Wall Street Journal] A recovery by the retail property market is running out of steam because of retailer bankruptcies and cautious shoppers.Store closures rose in 2024, ending a two-year expansion, with more closures than openings nationwide. Uncertainty and inflation are causing retailers to pause on signing new leases, affecting shopping-center leasing.

Three predictions for 2025 back-to-school shopping [Chain Store Age] Retailers can expect consumers to focus on value during the fall back-to-school shopping season. That’s one of three predictions in Inmar Intelligence’s “2025 Back-to-School Shopping Forecast Report,” which revealed that 31% of parents are prepared to take on debt in order to pay for back-to-school shopping, including apparel, school supplies, food items and more, which makes incentives, loyalty programs, and private labels more important than ever.

The Business of Surf Parks and the Real Estate Strategy Behind the Break [Propmodo] Over the past ten years, advancements in wave-generation technology have brought surfing inland. Purpose-built surf parks can now produce programmable, surf-grade waves with consistency. These facilities are no longer novelties. They are becoming central features in large-scale developments and are being treated as serious assets by cities, investors, and developers.

Hong Kong’s top 10 new shopping malls [DimSum Daily] As Hong Kong continues to expand its retail landscape, several high-profile shopping malls are set to redefine leisure and commerce in the city. From iconic landmarks in Kai Tak to waterfront destinations in Cheung Sha Wan, these developments promise innovative experiences for shoppers and visitors alike.

Q&A: Urban Air founder talks expansion [Chain Store Age] As shopping centers are looking for new entertainment tenants to attract customers, Urban Air Adventure Park is seizing on the opportunity and expanding its footprint.

On the mall business today and plans for the future [Chain Store Age] I grew up in the mall business. My dad was a developer of warehouses and small retail centers in New York in the Sixties and Seventies. It was the beginning of the boom-time for large, enclosed shopping centers that served as mega-downtowns for folks living in a 20-to-30-mile radius.

Are We Entering the Golden Age of Secondhand Shopping? [The Wall Street Journal] Thrift Vintage Fashion’s latest ad is clear: “Tariffs matter to fast fashion, not us.” The past two months have been the most lucrative ever for the Miami-based business. The family operation has been supplying retailers around the U.S. with preowned jeans, sweatshirts and T-shirts since the early ’90s. Sales were up 31% in March and 23% in April compared with the same months in 2024.