Malls are back—and they’re not what they used to be.
According to Placer.ai’s new white paper, “Malls in 2025: Rethinking the Anchor”, the post-pandemic shopping center isn’t being revived by department stores. Instead, malls are transforming into hybrid lifestyle destinations—social hubs where experiential retail, food, fitness, and flexible leasing strategies are redefining what it means to be an “anchor” tenant.
This shift has major implications for how retail spaces are developed, staffed, and optimized—particularly in a labor market where talent with niche experience is harder to find.
Here’s what commercial real estate operators—and their HR teams—need to know.
The Comeback of the American Mall
The narrative that malls are dying? Not anymore. Placer.ai calls them the “Retail Comeback Kid,” thanks in large part to evolving consumer habits and creative tenant curation. Instead of relying solely on traditional anchors like Macy’s or JCPenney, mall operators are turning to:
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Niche retailers like Barnes & Noble,
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Experiential giants like Scheels,
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And high-volume restaurants like Porto’s Bakery or In-N-Out.
Why? Because these businesses are drawing anchor-level foot traffic without requiring anchor-level square footage.
Key Takeaway: Anchor Status Is Now About Foot Traffic, Not Floor Space
Scheels, for example, turned Towne East Square Mall in Wichita into a destination, increasing the number of shoppers willing to drive over 50 miles. Meanwhile, a Barnes & Noble in Albuquerque outperformed both Macy’s and JCPenney in total visits—despite having a much smaller footprint.
Restaurants, too, are anchoring new foot traffic: In-N-Out at Glendale Galleria drew 8.6% of mall visits in 2024—more than some legacy anchor tenants. Porto’s Bakery pulled 15.6% at Northridge Fashion Center.
This presents a new opportunity for smaller-format businesses to play a large-format role—and for mall owners to diversify risk by decentralizing dependence on one or two large anchors.
Time and Day Matter—So Should Talent Strategy
The report also dives into time-based patterns of mall visits. For example:
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Costco drives weekday visits.
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Scheels excels on weekends.
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Chick-fil-A draws weekday crowds, but causes a dip in Sunday traffic due to closures.
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Fitness centers like those at Northshore Mall are pulling early morning traffic—well before stores traditionally open.
These nuances offer tactical guidance for operators and their HR teams: talent deployment and tenant mix should vary by daypart. If your property includes a gym or early-morning anchor, for example, you may benefit from hiring more morning-shift workers—or adjusting tenant hours to capture that traffic.
Pop-Ups Can Anchor Traffic, Too
Pop-up experiences are also proving themselves as powerful visit drivers. The Barbie Dreamhouse Living Truck Tour, for instance, caused weekend-level foot traffic surges midweek in malls that hosted the event.
This suggests that short-term, high-impact activations deserve similar leasing attention and operational support as traditional long-term tenants. It also means bringing in event-specific staffing models—something that flexible recruiting partners like TalentWoo can help you build.
Collaborative, Not Competitive: How the Right Tenants Help Each Other
One of the most important takeaways from the report is this: the right tenant mix doesn’t cannibalize foot traffic—it can multiply it.
A prime example: after Aldi opened next to BJ’s Wholesale Club at Green Acres Commons in 2020, BJ’s traffic actually increased. Cross-shop data confirmed that Aldi customers were more likely to also visit BJ’s than the average shopper.
This reinforces the importance of audience-aligned leasing—pairing brands that share customer segments and complement each other operationally.
What This Means for Real Estate Talent Leaders
As the mall continues its evolution into a lifestyle ecosystem, the kinds of talent needed to support its success are evolving too. Hiring must now reflect:
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Customer Experience Expertise (not just transactional retail staffing)
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Operational Agility to manage variable traffic patterns
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Flexibility in Roles to support pop-ups, early hours, or hybrid use
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Digital-Physical Integration for tech-enabled activations and logistics
At TalentWoo, we work directly with asset managers and retail landlords to build recruiting pipelines around these new priorities. Whether you need talent to run experiential concepts, activate event spaces, or optimize operations for early or late-day traffic—we’ve got the strategy and network to support you.
In Summary:
Placer.ai’s white paper shows that the mall anchor in 2025 isn’t a department store—it’s a traffic engine. That could be a gym, a burger joint, a curated bookstore, or a rolling Barbie truck. And as these anchors change, so too must the people, schedules, and systems supporting them.
Want to learn how your team can align hiring with the future of mall retail? Let’s talk.
Download the full report here.