Mall Sales per Square Foot Performance – Pay Attention to the Details

I learned a valuable lesson late last month about mall sales productivity. After teaching a course on retail site selection, a local lifestyle center manager provided a tour of his facility. Several tenants had opened in the past few years, including a Tesla dealership. Like most Tesla outlets, this is a relatively small sales office.

What astounded me was the sales performance of the Tesla dealership – $140 million per year. The Tesla dealership alone boosted the sales per square foot performance of the entire lifestyle center by $400 per square foot – from $900 to $1,300 in one year! I had been aware that Apple store outlets could significantly impact mall sales performance, but was oblivious to the Tesla impact until now.

The Moral of the Story

Pay attention to the details when assessing shopping center performance levels.