The national retail vacancy rate currently sits at roughly 4.4%, near historic lows. That shortage of available space has created fierce competition for second-generation storefronts – particularly large boxes vacated by chains like Big Lots and JoAnn.
When Big Lots began shuttering stores in 2024, a line of off-price retailers formed, eager to take over those locations. Companies like Bealls, Burlington, Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less emerged as aggressive backfill candidates, capitalizing on a consumer shift toward bargain hunting.
The appeal of off-price is behavioral, which makes the sector resilient because it draws in-person shoppers.
Unlike traditional department stores or online retailers, where shoppers expect to find a specific size and color, off-price retailers thrive on unpredictability. Consumers may arrive looking for a pair of Nikes and leave with a pair of dress shoes and two shirts because the deals were too good to pass up. That dynamic makes these stores far more resistant to e-commerce disruption.
“It’s the thrill of the hunt for off-price retailers because you have to go in. You have to ‘shop the store,’ and you can’t replicate that experience online.”
The same logic applies to a second category increasingly filling former retail boxes: experiential tenants. Gyms, trampoline parks, pickleball courts, entertainment centers and movie theaters are taking over spaces once reserved for apparel and furniture.
In one St. Petersburg shopping center, a former Badcock Furniture & More was converted into a 24,000-square-foot pickleball facility, Dill Dinkers, after multiple recreational operators expressed interest.
In the past, landlords and anchor tenants often resisted those types of entertainment uses, concerned they would monopolize parking without driving retail sales.
But with limited new construction and persistent demand for space, that resistance is fading.
Read Entire Business Observer Article Featuring Charlie Boscarino, CEO – LQ Commercial:
https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/mar/06/despite-store-closures-hope-for-retail/
