Once reserved for London's Mayfair set or Boston's Back Bay elites, private social clubs are finding an unlikely new home — inside American shopping centers. As department stores disappear and retail landlords scramble to fill cavernous anchor spaces, some are betting that exclusivity sells.
It's part of the uneven, K-shaped, or perhaps E-shaped, retail recovery following the collapse of thousands of chain stores in 2024 and 2025.
"As retail evolves, so too has the adaptive reuse of the boxes," Paul Kurzawa, president of Centennial Real Estate Company, tells GlobeSt.com.
"In only a small fraction of the instances is there a straightforward answer of finding a large-format user to go into the box."
Dave Cheatham, president of X Team Retail Advisors, adds that the very idea of what anchors a mall is being rewritten.
"It's less about a single department store and more about who can reliably generate trips and dwell time in a center, especially as consumer spending becomes more polarized," he says.
A standout example of this new strategy is Park House, a members-only club nestled among Hermès, Fendi, and Brunello Cucinelli shops in Dallas's Highland Park Village. According to The Associated Press, resident memberships can cost $7,000, plus monthly dues of $292. Members have access to food, cocktails, art shows and curated events — in essence, the social life of a private club in a retail setting.
In Miami, The Club at The Moore offers a similar concept, combining product curation, dining and even overnight accommodations. Initiation fees run $5,000, with monthly dues of $416.67, with discounts for younger members aged 21 to 30.
These upscale destinations represent a new form of high-end reuse, according to R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai. He told CNBC that private clubs "appeal to high-end consumers" as "another place, a status symbol. It is exclusivity."
Research by Placer.ai has shown diners increasingly choosing country clubs over restaurants — a shift reflecting both spending power and social signaling.
But developers know one model can't solve the problem of sprawling, empty stores.
"Initially, with a lot of these reuses, it ranges from fitness to grocery to entertainment, all the way to value-oriented retailers who are looking for large-format spaces," Kurzawa explains. Whether a private club or a discount grocer, he says, "there are numerous complexities that depend on what the floor plate looks like," and the new tenant has to fit the center's character.
In some cases, landlords give up on reuse altogether. Big-box structures can be demolished and replaced with multifamily housing or other mixed-use projects. Still, says Kurzawa, adaptive reuse remains fertile ground for experimentation.
"What has been interesting is the grocery and entertainment reuses," he notes, pointing to Netflix's three U.S. experience centers as examples.
"Whether it's a private club or bringing in an Aldi or Dollar General," Kurzawa adds, "it's these new uses that are regenerating the real estate."
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