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PREIT has brought another first-time use for mall space into its portfolio.
The Philly-based retail REIT has signed e-commerce supply chain company ShopFulfill to a pair of leases as a way to bring the inventory of smaller, online-only retailers into brick-and-mortar stores. ShopFulfill is debuting its concept of providing omnichannel infrastructure for membership fees as little as $800 per month in the Philadelphia region, according to a press release.
The consumer-facing portion, Anchor Shops Powered by ShopFulfill, will take a storefront on the concourse level of PREIT's new downtown mall, Fashion District Philadelphia. ShopFulfill has also leased the building that was once a Macy's in PREIT's Moorestown Mall in South Jersey, which has now been converted into a distribution center.
Anchor Shops will look to host around 40 digitally native brands, with their merchandise placed side by side in a store staffed by Anchor Shops employees. The former Macy's would house the clicks-to-bricks inventory for the physical location, as well as products bought online and picked up in store and direct-to-consumer online sales for shoppers in the region.
At full capacity, Anchor Shops is meant to have multiple retail storefronts in an urban market, all supplied by a nearby regional shipping hub. Its Philadelphia location is targeting an opening date in the spring.
PREIT has used its home market to test out a handful of new concepts to activate its malls. Fashion District is the second center at which PREIT has placed coworking tenants right alongside retail. After 1776 took space at Cherry Hill Mall, Industrious and local, art-focused operator REC Philly have taken a total of almost 60K SF at Fashion District.
The concourse level, located adjacent to the underground entrances to the SEPTA regional rail and Market-Frankford Line, also is home to four storefronts rented at discount rates to local operators in partnership with Philly nonprofit The Enterprise Center.
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