With all the noise about how retailers are struggling and consumers are pulling back on spending, you might assume that malls are pretty much running on empty. But not over at Tanger, the open-air retail platform with 40 shopping centers across the US and Canada.
Don’t believe us? Just look at the company’s latest Q2 results that reported robust traffic alongside a 96.6% occupancy rate.
“We’ve already flipped the page to 2026…and we’re actually working on deals with tenants for 2027,” Tanger’s EVP of leasing, Justin Stein, told Retail Brew.
The company’s biggest strengths, according to Stein, have been its relationships with retailers, and its operational efficiencies that include consistently clean centers, a curated mix of brands, entertainment offerings, and an overall immersive shopping experience.
“We have two customers: We have our retailers like Nike, and then we have our consumer shopper. Both are equally as important to us,” Stein explained. “The leasing team focuses mostly on curating the right mix, and then our amazing marketing team focuses on how to drive the retailers to the centers to complete their purchases.”
But much like many retailers, the years after the Covid-19 peak have thrown a bit of a curveball in terms of economic uncertainty and changing consumer expectations, which Tanger has dealt with by re-envisioning its leasing strategy.
With many customers moving back to their hometowns or simply shifting to a work-from-home set-up during Covid-19, Tanger saw the bulk of its centers go from “domestic tourism locations” to everyday shopping destinations, Stein said. This includes prime outlets in Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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“We started thinking about, how do we merchandise these assets?” Stein said, adding that it led to the company working with more specialty grocers and bringing in more food and beverage options including QSR and full service sit-down restaurants. He said the company is also working with health and wellness brands, which it considers a “critical” part of Tanger’s curational mix.
As Tanger plans its next year or even the year after that, Stein explained that beauty outlets, such as Sephora and Ulta, alongside athleisure retailers such as Alo and Lululemon have been some of its strongest performers. Meanwhile, there have also been some misses with brands like Forever 21, which recently filed for bankruptcy. “It’s a mixed bag,” Stein said.
For now, he sees omnichannel as the way to go for most retailers as consumers continue to value both a mix of online and offline shopping experience.
“We’ve just revamped our website, and we’re okay with the consumer starting their journey online,” Stein told us. “In fact, we’re trying to help them do that through our Tanger.com website. We want them to finish their journey in store with us at one of our Tanger centers, and we feel like we’ve cracked the code of being able to help consumers do just that.”