AC

We are heading into a holiday season without Borders, Blockbuster and Linens 'n Things. Retailers such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Gap, and Limited Brands have collectively closed hundreds of stores across the country. The retailers have left big gaps in malls since closing last year. Evidence of the impact is seen in a report out this month showing shopping mall vacancies hit an 11-year high in the third quarter. Commercial real estate research firm Reis finds regional and super mall vacancies are up 9.4% in the three months ending Sept. 30 from 8.8% a year earlier. It marks the third quarter in a row of vacancy increases. More notably, it is the highest level since Reis began publishing the data in 2000. Reis took inventory of space by surveying shopping mall property managers across the country. The data encompassed more than 600 million square feet — or about 40% of the nation's malls. Reis surveyed malls owned by both private owners and publically-traded Real Estate Investment...