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Kimberly Blair, a wellness practitioner based in San Diego who specialized in mourning advice, noticed an increase in “screen tiredness” among her customers, which she had largely advised. So she decided to open a place on the front front and offer more personal sessions. When she started throwing locations, she found that there were many first -class options because the shopping center was plentiful.
“I was able to negotiate a fantastic monthly rent, but also a flexible rental contract period, which in turn achieves better results for my customers, need personal support, and also for my business as a competitive advantage,” said Blair.
All over the country, small companies, including health practitioners, yoga teachers and artists, find it easier to secure first -class commercial space that were once out of their reach. However, experts warn that the opportunities for small companies largely vary from geography.
According to a recent report by the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, the national vacancy rate in shopping centers rose to 5.8%in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 20 basis points compared to the first quarter and an increase of 50 basis points compared to the previous year. The report shows a general demand for needs, which leads to the pressure on the survey of rents, also for the shopping center, especially for the area of ​​the shopping center. While the data was even weaker during the climax of the Covid closures, the increasing number of business closures and increasing cost prints for tenants will continue to dampen the rental growth in the next quarters, the report.
“The opportunities of the main street are definitely on the rise for tenants who go beyond the traditional retail model,” said Elizabeth Lafontaine, research director at Placer.ai, which monitors business pedestrian traffic. Lafontaine opens independent retailers and boutiques, especially in booming markets with high consumer migration, especially in booming markets with high consumer migration, and she added that shopping centers are now also more open to local companies, especially if they can be seen from the region.
According to Teresha Aird, co -founder and Chief Marketing Officer from Immobilienmaklerbüros.net, Blair's experience is not unusual. “We have seen a noticeable increase in small companies that used vacancies in areas that were completed due to pricing,” said Aird, adding that some of the toughest retail corridors, like suburbs inside and medium -sized city centers, see a reset.
“This is open to the door for independent retailers, fitness operators and, in particular, official -based companies that were previously rated,” said Aird.
To be clear, while the vacancies are growing in shopping centers, rents are still increasing. “Usually the rental prices do not fall,” said James Bohnaker, Senior Economist and Cushman & Wakefield. “The rental rates rise, but not with the same increase,” he said, adding that the rental rates rose by 4%after the covid, but now they are closer to 2%.
It is this flattening of the increase in the rental price and increased vacancies that create an opening for small companies that want to expand into inexpensive commercial ownership. “We see an increase in medical offices and spas and other uses that they usually didn't see,” said Bohnaker.
Cushman & Wakefield expects this trend to be continued at short notice. “The market has calibrated a little. So far we see more shop closures this year,” said Bohnaker.
And that will continue to open up opportunities for smaller companies that want to move in.
Andy Lapointe, owner of the local gourmet food business at Traverse Bay Farms, has two retail stores in two shopping centers in Nordmichigan.
“What we have found is when national brands pull out of first -class places, it is less about simply filling these rooms.
“These rooms already had a site selection check, foot traffic and the locals are used to seeing activities in the room. But the magic happens when a small company does not bring a biscuit default replacement, but something unique, a place to linger and a feeling of belonging,” said Lapoint. “When a national chain leaves a room, it's not just a gap, it is a canvas for a small, local company to create something permanent.”
Close up of the Traverse Bay Farms Store in a tourist style shopping center.
Traverse bay farms
Similar to Blair's leasing experience, many small business owners achieve cheaper terms, including flexible rental lengths, partly equipment and even rent-free period in some cases according to the AIRD. Some small business owners who settle in first-class new excavations are skipping traditional long-term rental contracts and opt for shorter, served or managed office setups with which they can test a location before they are completely committed, and a new balance between visibility and affordability, which also supports local regeneration.
“This type of access was not on the table for startups and small companies in most U -Bahn areas three years ago. Now it is the best thing to do to test the physical presence without the rock,” she said. She also notes that landlords and municipal councils work together in some earlier busy trade centers to offer short-term rental contracts, pop-up programs or income sharing agreements in order to assert units and to reduce vacancies.
“The result is a more flexible, opportune environment that can be a lifeline for entrepreneurs who navigate close margins and competitive markets,” said Aird.
Marc Norman, Associate Dean at the SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University, refers to several variables that determine whether a non -traditional company can secure a place that is once occupied by an expensive chain.
“The empty space sends a message that a place has to fight,” said Norman. This means that some landlords lower prices and open the doors for independent and local shops to keep a place active and busy. “Consumers who visit these places want to see occupied rooms. We don't want to pass 15 empty rooms and see one or two occupied rooms,” said Norman. However, he added strategic decision -making by the landlord. If the long -term goal of the owner of the purchasing center is to run the rental contracts and finally derive the property, you can be satisfied with accumulating vacancies. “The decision could be that you want to empty the sales area to sell,” said Norman.
According to Norman, many shopping centers are looking for coveted “loan tenants”, which are usually chains that can pay six months in advance for a 5-year rental contract. However, these are increasingly rare, and if no credit tenants can be rated, smaller companies have the option of collecting with cheaper terms.
Vacant shopping center in Woodbridge. Virginia.
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There are numerous questions, calculations and risks for a landlord if a smaller tenant is considered.
“Will the mother and pop sign a long lease?” Said Norman.
Andrew Spatz, partner of the New York law firm Dorf Nelson & Zauderer, who specializes in commercial real estate and land use development, says that the opportunity for small companies is determined by geography. For example, the marketplace in and over New York City is “absolutely contrary to” the idea that smaller companies can win better offers. The demand for storage, industry and micro distribution has increased the value of open spaces.
There are opportunities in other communities in which big boxing shops have failed and the data centers are not striving for. “This gives absolutely the possibility that small companies thrive, but only if the landlords provide rental contracts that are manageable and not” triple “triple” in nature, “said Spatz and referred to a rent type, in which a tenant also pays property taxes, property insurance and maintenance.)
Jacob Naig, a real estate agent and rehabber in the Moines, Iowa, said that landlords in his region generally no longer want to sit empty, which opens up for smaller companies.
“In the west of the Moines, a family-owned restaurant recently took an old chain pizzeria location for a rent of almost 30% under the original request,” said Naig, adding that the landlord even provided the tenant improvement allowance to redesign the kitchen. “Such a deal would not have been possible five years ago,” said Naig.
According to Glenn Brill, a managing director of the real estate solution at FTI Consulting, the high failure rate for small companies will always be a problem for the landlords.
“In view of the risk of a failure of small businesses, many landlords are probably ready to wait for the right tenant to pay at full market prices or more instead of giving away the room for the first chance,” said Brill, adding that for most small companies the best options are not in empty large boxes, but in smaller patrol centers.
Even then, the conditions must be exactly right.
“The shopping centers with smaller shops offer small companies more options, but if the local economic conditions get sick with increasing vacancy, an offer of reduced rental prices may not be incentive enough to open a small retail business,” said Brill.