Macerich’s Los Cerritos Center is set to see the former Sears space filled with a Dick’s House of Sport in what will be one of the first malls in California to nab the experiential sporting goods retail concept.
Dick’s Sporting Goods’ House of Sport will become one of the mall’s anchor tenants after inking a lease at the center during earlier this year, in what’s been a flurry of leasing activity that’s helped breathe new life into one of Macerich’s top-performing malls. The store is reportedly set to open next year in space vacated by Sears in 2018.
The company confirmed in an announcement Tuesday the location will not only be stocked with sportswear but will also be built with a climbing wall; golf bays; and cages for baseball, softball, soccer and other sports. Its opening makes for good timing, a year ahead of Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics.
For Macerich, the incoming tenant is a big win as the Santa Monica-based mall operator continues to ramp its focus on what it calls its “fortress” properties, or the high performers it views as having the brightest futures for growth.
The mall operator already saw its Freehold Raceway Mall in New Jersey open a Dick’s House of Sport, which company executives said has led to more traffic and what CEO Jack Hsieh called “vibrancy” in a part of the mall once anchored by Lord & Taylor.
In all, 10 Macerich malls are set to see a Dick’s House of Sport.
“Elevate and Transform”
The incoming anchor tenant is part of a new era for Macerich’s portfolio under Hsieh and the CEO’s “Path Forward” turnaround plan that’s already been netting the mall owner big results.
The plan is meant to “elevate and transform” the retailer mix at the company’s go-forward portfolio, Hsieh told analysts last month during the company’s quarterly earnings update. Meantime, Macerich has also been ridding its portfolio of underperforming properties.
“As I have now passed my two-year tenure here at Macerich, I’ve gained more confidence and belief in the resurgence of Class A, regional malls and their ability to consolidate trade areas and to become even more relevant to customers and tenants,” Hsieh said last month.
That resurgence of the superregional mall comes as several heritage retail chains see renewed demand after right-sizing their store footprint and, more importantly, their product mix. Those retailers include Gap Inc.’s namesake business and its Old Navy division, along with Abercrombie & Fitch. There’s also been the rise of newer mall retailer names, such as Aritzia and Alo Yoga, which Macerich has also seized upon.
Macerich Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Leasing Doug Healey referenced the often-used phrase of “retail reinvention” during last month’s analyst call when he talked about the momentum behind legacy and emerging retailers at the mall. “The legacy retailers are coming out with all these brand extensions,” Healey said of Abercrombie’s Hollister and kids lines, American Eagle’s Aerie and the category expansion of Old Navy. “The emerging brands are strong. You think about Alo [Yoga], Beyond Yoga, Faherty. A lot of the retailers are all over this Gen Z consumer.”
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