Growth in foot traffic to malls slowed in July 2023 compared to June, when there was significant improvement in the year-over-year numbers. But the dip was not pronounced, suggesting that shopping centers may be on track for better performance in the second half of the year, according to Placer.ai's Mall Index.
Indeed, visits to open-air lifestyle centers – which create pedestrian-friendly, small town-like shopping environments – in July this year were higher than in July 2022. And indoor malls and outlet malls were not far behind year-over-year 2022 figures, down 2.8% and 3.3% respectively.
Visits to all three mall types were higher in July 2023 compared to the previous month – the third consecutive period of month-to-month growth. The report says this may be due to Back to School shopping. Outlet malls enjoyed the highest increase. They also benefited from an 8.2% jump in week-over-week visits during the week of July 3 – likely due to July 4 promotions. Indoor malls saw just a 0.3% increase, while visits to lifestyle centers fell slightly compared to the previous week.
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For the week of July 24, visits to indoor malls rose 3.8% and to outlet malls 7.1% — which the report suggests could mean that Back to School season is just getting started. August could be even better.
As for lifestyle centers, the report finds that they outperformed indoor or outlet malls on an annual basis, even though they performed less well on a weekly or monthly comparison. The report notes that lifestyle centers draw shoppers from census blocks with relatively high median household income — $87, 600 — and are likely less impacted by economic headwinds. Median annual income for customers of indoor malls is $81,500 and for outlet malls $75,600.
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