Schuckman News / Blog

As U.S. store closings run roughly 44% below last year, dead big boxes and drugstores are being re-tenanted fast — Target in America’s last Kmart, O’Reilly in former Rite Aids — while institutional capital pays record prices for grocery-anchored retail.

Store openings have overtaken closings in 2026, led by Costco’s 14 new North American warehouses, grocery and discount expansion, and a net-lease market splitting decisively by quality.

Q2 earnings from Target, TJX, BJ’s and Home Depot confirm a value-driven consumer — and a clear signal for which retail real estate will command capital as expansion collides with the tightest supply in a generation.

With construction at multi-decade lows and availability near record tights, retailers and restaurateurs are competing to buy vacated space out of bankruptcy — Burlington and Saks, Dutch Bros versus 7 Brew over Salad & Go, Arhaus backfilling a big box — while Federal Realty, Regency and Simon post record leasing. Ken Schuckman on the scramble for second-generation retail space.

In 2026, U.S. store openings are outrunning closings for the first time since the pandemic — and grocery, discount, and off-price retailers like Aldi and Burlington are backfilling the second-generation boxes their fallen competitors left behind.

The best story in retail real estate isn’t new construction — it’s the second life of vacated big boxes. From a former Target turned school to Costco repurposing an ex–Bed Bath & Beyond, here’s why adaptive reuse is winning.