According to a report by real estate research firm Reis, U.S. store closings and cutbacks turned the second quarter into the worst one for strip mall owners in 30 years. Strip malls saw average vacancies spike 0.5% to 8.2%, a level not seen since 1995. To date, we have not seen a corresponding reduction in capacity at casual dining restaurants. The reduced traffic to the malls and strip centers puts downward pressure on traffic trends at restaurants adjacent to these locations.
- The end of the current cycle will be marked by a reduction in Casual Dining capacity.
Casual Dining traffic trends versus Vacancy rates