A new white paper from Placer.ai argues that the traditional approach to merchandising neighborhood and lifestyle centers has been overtaken by a different set of realities. The firm reports that the operating model many landlords used five years ago, built heavily around apparel anchors and department stores, has been replaced by a service-first orientation in tenant mix.
According to Placer.ai, the shift reflects clear patterns in visitor behavior. The white paper, titled “The New Tenant Mix Playbook,” examines which tenant categories have seen declining foot traffic in recent years and which have gained momentum. While specific categories are not detailed in the summary, the study highlights a broad reordering of which uses function effectively as anchors in open-air retail environments.
The report urges landlords to reconsider how they define and evaluate anchor tenants. Rather than focusing primarily on store size or traditional anchor labels, Placer.ai recommends a more granular, performance-driven approach. The white paper states that landlords should place greater weight on metrics such as visit frequency, traffic growth, exposure to e-commerce risk, and dwell time when assessing current tenants and potential additions to the merchandising plan.
This framework marks a departure from a model in which large-format apparel and department stores were viewed as default traffic drivers. Placer.ai notes that apparel as a whole has generally lost its historic role as the primary anchor for many centers. However, the analysis also identifies an important nuance: off-price apparel tenants stand out as a notable exception to this broader trend and continue to function as strong anchors in many locations.
The white paper also draws a distinction between lifestyle centers and neighborhood centers, describing them as having evolved into different ecosystems. While both rely increasingly on services within their tenant rosters, Placer.ai suggests that the new classes of anchor tenants play differing roles in each format and can reinforce performance in distinct ways. The summary indicates that these differences are material enough that landlords should not treat the two formats as interchangeable when making tenant decisions.
Overall, Placer.ai positions its findings as guidance for owners and operators seeking to align their centers with current shopper behavior. By emphasizing data on visitation patterns, growth trajectories, and vulnerability to online competition, the white paper proposes a more analytical framework for deciding which tenants deserve anchor-like prominence in today’s neighborhood and lifestyle retail centers.
