Shoppers finally got rid of some hesitation about COVID-19, and in some cases, the flow of people in shopping malls and plazas finally returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Kimco Realty, operating 400+ shopping malls Across the United States, strong second-quarter earnings were announced this week, with operating capital of 34 cents per share and revenue of $289 million-better than expected.In the interview NBC Finance Channel, Kimco CEO Conor Flynn regards revenue as part of the services provided by its center and increased traffic.
Flynn said: “Traffic has returned to 2019 levels, and thanks to all the lessons learned from the pandemic, we now have a real script that we can follow.” “We launched roadside pickup and… …. The last mile shopping malls we own are usually grocery stores, which provide consumers with the way they want to shop. I think this choice is very important to consumers today.”
Tenants in some centers helped, and stores such as TJ Maxx, Burlington, and Ross helped drive some of the traffic, as did the innovations used by these centers.
Flynn also pointed out that although e-commerce continues to grow and will certainly grow exponentially during the pandemic, developing his center and providing more COVID-inspired services, such as in-store and curbside pickup, is helping the center flourish , And may lead to increased passenger traffic.
“Suddenly, this last mile retail becomes more valuable to retailers and consumers alike,” he said. “We did see a huge increase in occupancy rates driven mainly by anchors.”
Trends indicate that Kimco Center is not necessarily the only center that benefits, because Consumer confidence It has been growing.However, the spread of Delta Variant and the vaccinated and unvaccinated people renewed the recommendation to wear masks indoors Soon cast a shadow Regarding the economic growth enjoyed. Although work stoppages do not necessarily occur, if cases continue to increase exponentially, they may be put on the table again.
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