Editing Anchor tenant

{{short description|Larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain}}
[[Image:Nordstrom.JPG|right|thumb|[[Nordstrom]], a former anchor store at [[The Florida Mall]] located in [[Orlando, Florida]]]]
[[Image:MeridianDunedin.jpg|thumb|right|[[Meridian Mall, Dunedin|Meridian Mall]] in [[Dunedin]], New Zealand, with the logos of the two anchor tenants ([[Kmart New Zealand]] and [[Arthur Barnett (department store)|Arthur Barnett]]) displayed on the upper walls]]

In North American, Australian and New Zealand [[retail]], an "'''anchor tenant'''", sometimes called an "'''anchor store'''", "'''draw tenant'''", or "'''key tenant'''", is a considerably larger [[Leasehold estate|tenant]] in a [[shopping mall]], often a [[department store]] or [[Chain store|retail chain]].<ref>{{Cite dictionary|title=Anchor Tenant|url=https://www.crepedia.com/dictionary/definitions/anchor-tenant/ |year=2021|publisher=CREpedia|dictionary=Commercial Real Estate Dictionary}}</ref> They are typically located at the ends of malls, sometimes in the middle. With their broad appeal, they are intended to attract a significant cross-section of the shopping public to the center. They are often offered steep discounts on rent in exchange for signing long-term leases in order to provide steady cash flows for the mall owners. 

Some examples of anchor stores in the United States are: [[Macy's]], [[Sears]], [[JCPenney]], [[Nordstrom]], [[Neiman Marcus]], [[Saks Fifth Avenue]], [[Dillard's]], [[Kohl's]], [[Walmart]], and [[Target Corporation|Target]]. And in [[Canada]]; [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|Hudson's Bay]], [[Sears Canada|Sears]] (formerly), [[Target Canada|Target]] (formerly), [[Zellers]] (formerly, now in select [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|Bay]] locations), [[Nordstrom Canada|Nordstrom]]/[[Nordstrom Rack]] (formerly), [[TJX Canada|TJX Companies]] ([[HomeSense]], [[Winners]], [[Marshalls]]), [[Saks Fifth Avenue]], [[Sporting Life (retailer)|Sporting Life]].
== Origins ==
When the planned shopping centre format was developed by [[Victor Gruen]] in the early to mid-1950s, signing larger department stores was necessary for the financial stability of the projects, and to draw retail traffic that would result in visits to the smaller shops in the centre as well. Anchors generally have their rents heavily discounted, and may even receive cash inducements from the centre to remain open.

Early on, [[grocery store]]s were a common type of anchor store, since they are visited often. However, research on [[Consumer behaviour|consumer behavior]] revealed that most trips to the grocery store did not result in visits to surrounding shops {{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}. Large [[Supermarket|supermarkets]] remain common anchor stores within [[Power center (retail)|power centers]] however.

Since the end of the 20th century, The declining popularity of old-line department stores has made  it necessary for mall management companies to consider re-anchoring with other retail alternatives, or mix commercial development with residential development to guarantee a captive clientele.

The challenges faced by the traditional large department stores have led to a resurgence in the use of supermarkets,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kroll |first=Karen M. |date=February 1999 |title=Industry turns to supermarket anchors to fill big boxes |url=http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct9902/02.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923212001/http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct9902/02.php |archive-date=23 September 2009 |work=Shopping Centers Today |access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref> even [[Health club|gyms]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/malls-never-wanted-gyms-now-they-court-them-1511697600?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3B3h8GOOyuRjCeKbrdxa4IPw%3D%3D|title=Malls Never Wanted Gyms. Now They Court Them|author=Rachel Bachman|date=2017-11-27|publisher=Wall Street Journal}}</ref> as anchors.

== Classification ==
The [[International Council of Shopping Centers]] makes the presence of anchors one of the main defining characteristics of the two largest categories of centres, the ''regional center'' with 400,000 to {{convert|800000|sqft|m2}} in [[gross leasable area]], and the ''superregional center'' with more than {{convert|800000|sqft|m2}} of space.

The ''regional center'' typically has two or more anchors, while the superregional typically has three or more.

In each case, the anchors account for 50–70% of the centre's leasable space.<ref>[http://www.icsc.org/srch/lib/SCDefinitions99.pdf "ICSC Shopping Center Definitions: Basic Configurations and Types for the United States"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621081346/http://www.icsc.org/srch/lib/SCDefinitions99.pdf |date=2007-06-21 }}, [[International Council of Shopping Centers]]. Accessed July 10, 2008.</ref>

== Culture ==
Shopping centres with anchor stores have consistently outperformed those without one, as the anchor helps draw shoppers initially attracted to the anchor to shop at other shops in the mall.<ref>Stoffel, Jennifer. [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/07/business/what-s-new-in-shopping-malls-putting-a-bloomingdale-s-in-towns-big-and-small.html "WHAT'S NEW IN SHOPPING MALLS; Putting a Bloomingdale's in Towns Big and Small"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 7, 1988. Accessed July 10, 2008. "Even as department stores have lost ground to smaller specialty shops, shopping centers with national retailers as anchors continue to outperform those that have only local tenants.... The anchor store has substantial influence - mall plans have been held up until an anchor is firmly in place, and a successful anchor can inspire new development or continued expansion."</ref> Thus, a mall which loses its last anchor is often considered to be a [[dead mall]].

==See also==

* [[Retail]]
* [[Shopping centre]]
* [[Supermarket]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Retail formats]]
[[Category:Commercial real estate]]
[[Category:Department stores]]