KeyPoint New Hampshire Retail Report Shows Modest Recovery
Comprehensive market report shows inventory up, vacancy down
KeyPoint Partners, LLC has released The KeyPoint Report on Southern New Hampshire 2013, Bob Sheehan, Vice President of Research, announced today. The Report examines supply, occupancy, absorption, and retailer expansion and contraction for virtually every retail property in the region. This year’s Report features a ten-year historical perspective: a profile of the market from the relatively good times beginning in 2003 to the present.
“Southern New Hampshire received a ‘double shot of retail love’ in 2013: inventory was up and vacancy was down,” Sheehan says, “The region gained 792,100 square feet of retail space, a 2.7% increase from a year ago and the largest increase since 2006.”
According to the report, total retail space for the region was 29.7 million square feet. Unoccupied space was reduced by approximately 220,000 square feet, a 7.2% decline, and vacant storefronts were reduced by 8.1%. The region ended the study year with a vacancy rate of 9.6%, down from 10.6% last year. Market Basket led retailers in square feet of expansion, adding 95,700 square feet, while Subway and Sleepy’s ranked at the top in new store count, opening 3 new units each.
The biggest story in the Southern New Hampshire retail market was the opening of the 410,000 square foot Merrimack Premium Outlets in Merrimack, which is now Southern New Hampshire’s fifth largest shopping center.
“When it comes to retail category growth by new square footage, Food/Grocery Stores and Department Stores ranked one and two for the second year, with Market Basket leading the list. Bloomingdale’s and Saks outlets in Merrimack, a Walmart relocation to a Supercenter in Derry, and its replacement in the former unit by Ocean State Job Lot, added to department store square footage,” Sheehan says. “Women’s Apparel ranked third, and Women’s and Family Apparel were the top two categories by store count growth, mainly due to the Merrimack opening.”
The Report is based on KeyPoint Partners’ GRIID, a powerful source of retail market knowledge that maintains detailed information on virtually every retail property in key New England markets. The Southern New Hampshire Report includes 39 cities and towns representing more than 835 square miles and approximately 553,900 permanent residents (42.0% of the state population).
The complete KeyPoint Report can be accessed on the Retail Research Reports page. The KeyPoint Report for Eastern Massachusetts/Greater Boston, published earlier this year, is available now. The KeyPoint Report for Greater Hartford, Connecticut will follow shortly. Click here for information about KeyPoint Partners’ retail research capabilities and the KeyPoint GRIID. Click here to download biographies of our Senior Team including Bob Sheehan, Vice President of Research.
