A slowdown at Apple stores—traditionally a big time mall anchor—is putting a serious dent on mall revenues, General Growth Properties CEO Sandeep Mathrani says.
“Nearly every major retail category was up, with the exception of electronics, primarily due to Apple,” Sandeep said on an earnings call this week.
Apple stores have been the darling of US malls, boosting sales enough to snag crazy-low rents. Yet, over the past year, Sandeep says, sales for tenants with under 10k SF stores grew by 3% to $588 per SF.
Take away Apple and the increase grows to 4.5%. In addition, the electronics giant did just forecast its first quarterly sales drop in over a decade.
