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ICSC News International Council of Shopping Centers 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099 Phone: (646) 728-3800, www.icsc.org Contact Malachy Kavanagh or Patrice Duker (646) 728-3495/3496 2003 Retail Sales in Shopping Centers Strongest in Three Years (New York, May 2004) - Shopping centers remained the dominant format for retail sales in the United States in 2003. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), shopping center-inclined sales1 registered over $1.98 trillion dollars in sales, a 4.4 percent increase over 2002 figures. “U.S. shopping-center sales in 2003 posted its strongest gain in three years. Although last year’s annual gain was still a moderate increase overall, it masked a very powerful improvement during the second half of the year,” said Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research for ICSC. “The trend growth of shoppingcenter sales was running in the 1.0 to 3.0 percent range early in the 2003, but by the second half of the year was soaring in the 5.0 to 7.0 percent range. That turnaround was on the heels of a strong luxury market with reinforcement from a slowly improving labor market by year-end,” Mr. Niemira added. Nationally, the numbers of adults visiting shopping centers each month rose from 201 million in 2002 to 203 million in 2003, resulting in $1.98 trillion in shopping center-inclined sales (76 percent of total non-automotive retail sales), up from $1.89 trillion in 2002. In 2003, state sales tax revenue from shopping center-inclined sales also rose as centers collected $84.3 billion in state sales taxes, a 6.7 percent increase from the $79.0 billion generated by shopping centers in 2002. Shopping center-related employment dropped slightly from 17,614,700 million jobs in 2002 to 17,605,100 million jobs in 2003. In 2003, there were 662 more shopping centers operating and there were 698 new construction projects started which generated 45,000 construction jobs. The total number of shopping centers increased in 2003 to 46,990, up from 46,328 in 2002. Mr. Niemira noted the paradox in the construction data and potentially the missed story for 2003. He observed, “New shopping-center construction starts were weaker in 2003, but redevelopment of malls was where the action was. As a result, overall shopping-center construction spending rose in 2003 by 6.0 percent.” Founded in 1957, ICSC is the trade association of the shopping center industry and services its over 46,000 members in over 77 countries by assisting in the development of their businesses through professional education, conferences and conventions, publications, research and legislative action. 1. Shopping center-inclined sales, based directly on U.S. Commerce Department data, simply measure sales at stores that are likely to be at shopping centers. Shopping center-inclined sales include the following store types: General Merchandise, Apparel, Furniture, Electronic and “Other” (GAFO), Health and Personal Care, Food and Beverage, and Building Material & Garden Equipment & Supplies. |
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Shopping Center Statistics • There are 46,990 shopping centers in the United States. The vast majority of shopping
centers (95%) are open-air centers.
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