Given the current circumstances in the world, retailers have had to make various changes. Services like Curbside Pickup have grown for both retailers and restaurants. Now, Kimco Realty has decided to permanently add designated spots for curbside pickup to its Texas shopping centers.

The Rollout

The addition of designated curbside pickup spaces will be rolled out instead of doing so all at once. The rollout will begin in Texas with 23 properties. The deployment began in early May in Texas and will expand soon after. This is a big project as Kimco Realty owns over 400 mixed-use developments and shopping centers.

The first shopping center where Kimco Realty tried this service was the Grand Parkway Marketplace located in Spring, Texas. Some of the stores there include PetSmart, Party City, and Ross Stores. This initial deployment marked 60 parking spaces just for curbside pickup, letting all of the retailers to use the spaces.

How It Works

As mentioned, the first shopping center that Kimco Realty began this service, there are 60 designated Curbside Pickup Spots shared by retailers. When shoppers make an order, they will be told which parking slot to visit.

The Goal

The CEO of Kimco Realty, Conor Flynn, said that the company hopes the addition of curbside pickup spots will boost sales back up while the economy reopens.

Flynn pointed out that curbside pickup had already been growing in popularity before coronavirus. Now, some of Kimco’s national retailers are experiencing a 200 percent increase in curbside pickup orders.

Kimco Realty hopes that its efforts will not only formalize the curbside pickup process but also allow the smaller local shops to take advantage of it like major national retailers are. The goal is that once the economy reopens, tenants should be able to increase their sales more quickly.

Part of a Reopening Strategy

The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association recently released a blueprint for how retailers could get back into business, and it also includes curbside pickup

In phase one, they suggest that retailers boost curbside pickup and online sales. In phase two, they recommend reopening the stores to the public but limiting their capacity and using social distancing. In phase three, protection should be established, and then the remaining restrictions can be lifted.

Chico’s FAS seems to be following a very similar strategy. The apparel retailer indicated that it would have three phases for opening: filling online orders with store inventories, buying online with in-store pickup, and shopping by appointment only.

Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/kimco-realty-to-add-curbside-pickup-as-its-malls-reopen-after-coronavirus.html

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