This article appeared in the 1997 Spring edition of The Strategic Solution, the newsletter of The Strategic Edge.

 

STRIP CENTERS

Toward A More Rational Classification System

 

Strip centers continue to evolve and sweep the United States. These retrofitted 60’s forms of retail are springing up on every available "strip" of land. The new and improved strip center appears to be a hybrid of the "neighborhood", the "community", and the "power" center classifications. Although the strip center concept may not be a new idea, the retailing that is taking place within them is a new concept. So, why all the fuss about the strip center?

 

The fuss is that the strip is the fastest growing retail form, "…34,000 strip centers with 200,000 square feet or less of gross leaseable area (GLA) constitute more than 87% of all shopping centers". The strip is also aiding in the de-malling of America by potentially taking consumers away from "the mall" shopping environment. For the consumer, the popularity of the strip center stems from its premise of necessity shopping, coupled with ease and convenience. For the retailer, the strip offers the opportunity to create a new retail "niche" in an "over malled" environment, with lower rents.

 

When looking at the strip center from the historical retail classification standpoint, it just does not fit. It is not a mall and it is not the "mom and pop" store around the corner. So, what exactly is this newly improved retail format? The strip center appears to be a hybrid of several existing classifications. The historic classifications of community and neighborhood centers are outmoded. The advent of Wal-mart and Big Box retailers have stretched the limits of these classifications. For example, if a Wal-mart is contained within a community or a neighborhood center, particularly in a rural environment, the draw to that store and ultimately the strip will be greater than that of both classifications. In the past, the strip center has been deemed more of a developmental issue rather than a retailing issue. Thus, are the older classification schemes still accurate when speaking of the new strip center? Do they simply need to re-named? Does an entirely new classification scheme need to created to adequately characterize the strip center?

 

Although the older classification schemes emphasize the importance of center size and trade area size, these classifications lack emphasis on the retail mix within these centers. Thus older, outdated classifications do not consider the (new) retailing within the center, nor do they consider the anchors of these centers. Sos, how should the strip center be classified? It should be classified by the retailing that is taking place within it, rather than its size or which segment of the neighborhood it serves.

 

The proposed strip center classification scheme consists of nine classes; three of which have previously been defined by the ICSC. The remaining classifications are an attempt to more accurately classify other strip centers.

• Tenant-within-an anchor center,
• Power center,
• Outlet center.
• The supermarket anchored class is designed for those centers anchored by supermarkets. There are two types: 1) the supermarket anchor and (2) the supermarket plus the junior department store anchor.
• The discount anchored centers are anchored by either a discount department store or a warehouse club.
• The combination center consists of two anchors. The combination anchors can be the supermarket, the discount department store, or a vacant anchor.
• The vacant anchored center is the bridge between the old strip and the new strip.
• The unusual strip center class is designed to accommodate those strip centers that are just a bit odd. However, if the anchor definitions were manipulated, these centers could fit in one of the previous classes.
• Finally, the non-strip classification is a category for those centers that look like a strip, act like a strip, but are not quite a strip. A majority of these centers began as strips, then underwent modifications to become enclosed malls, but were never completely enclosed.

 

The unusual strip and the non-strip classifications are meant to show that not every center will fit neatly into every classification all the time, and that allowances should be made so that such centers are not forced into categories merely for the sake of classification. Another strip center form that is cropping up in areas of planned development, such as Northern Virginia, is the isolated strip. These strips are truly community oriented due to their isolated locations.

 

Everything changes and evolves, and retailing is no exception. However, even though the retailing environment and subsequent classifications are constantly evolving, there will always be remnants of the past, within the retailing environment and retail classification schemes of the present.

 

 

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