We’ve yet to reach the halfway mark this year, and so far the retail picture in Baton Rouge is looking pretty grim, Business Report details in a new feature on the changes taking place in the local market.
Among this year’s many announcements are:
- Kohl’s downsizing four of its Louisiana locations—including the one in Baton Rouge—by some 25,000 square feet each.
- Macy’s repurposing 16,000 square feet of its Mall of Louisiana anchor store into a discount outlet called Macy’s Backstage.
- Winn Dixie’s parent company filing for bankruptcy, throwing into question the future of its big box supermarkets throughout the south.
- And Toys R Us declaring it’s closing all 800 of its retail locations across the country, which locally means an additional 59,000 square feet of inventory will soon be dumped on an already oversaturated market.
And this doesn’t even include the accelerating retail death at Cortana Mall. All of which begs the question of how many more retail stores are heading toward a similar fate? And who or what will fill all these empty or less-than-full big box buildings?
It’s anyone’s guess. But local real estate brokers say brace yourself because the “Amazon effect” that is rendering traditional brick-and-mortar stores obsolete isn’t going to slow anytime soon. On the contrary, the situation is expected to get worse, meaning major changes for the traditional retail spaces that housed big box stores in Baton Rouge and across the nation.
“This is just the beginning,” says commercial broker Matthew Laborde, whose Elifin Realty is currently marketing for lease three area Fred’s discount stores that have closed in recent months. “People say the whole Amazon effect is overblown but that’s not what I’m seeing. Retailers are closing, downsizing and consolidating their brick-and-mortar stores, and that trend is going to accelerate for the next five-to-ten years.”
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