Area malls grapple with closures of former 鈥榓nchors’

The shutdown of Saks Fifth Avenue鈥檚 Friendship Heights and Tysons stores this month leaves its landlords with hundreds of thousands of square feet to refill or repurpose.

Those and other department store closures also have retail experts rethinking the traditional mall anchor store.

鈥淎nchor stores play the major role in drawing foot traffic into the shopping malls and other retail tenants benefit from that,鈥� said Jie Zhang, a retail and marketing professor at University of Maryland鈥檚 Robert H. Smith School of Business.

For decades, department stores have fulfilled that role. Saks was one of Tysons Galleria鈥檚 original anchor stores when the mall opened nearly four decades ago in McLean, Virginia. The store’s parent company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

鈥淏ut because of the decline of department stores, shopping malls need to look for newer types of anchor stores to attract back customers, to give them a reason to visit them often and stay longer,鈥� Zhang said.

Mall owners have been seeking out new tenants for existing department store spaces, or carving up or renovating anchors to expand their uses.

鈥淢alls are not simply disappearing or dying,鈥� said Amit Arora, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia’s School of Business and Public Administration. 鈥淵ou’ve got stronger properties; they are becoming much more experiential. And the weaker and the aging malls, they are now being repurposed into mixed-use districts and entirely different land uses.鈥�

The Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which is now undertaking a $1.2 billion redevelopment project, is a good example of malls going the repurposing route, Arora said, and Tysons Galleria neighbor Tysons Corner Center has leaned into giving visitors more to experience.

鈥淭hat’s an innovative way to increase the footfall and the traffic to the mall,鈥� Arora said.

How Tysons is making a play for more shoppers

At Tysons Corner Center, there鈥檚 now a candy-themed adventure land where people used to buy couches. Hershey Super Sweet Adventure opened in April in the former Pottery Barn.

And in 2027, the mall鈥檚 former Lord & Taylor will be home to a supersized version of DICK鈥橲 Sporting Goods.

DICK鈥橲 House of Sport, a massive 鈥減lay while you shop鈥� sporting goods concept, is also planning to open 14 additional locations this year 鈥� two of them in Gaithersburg and Annapolis.

At Tysons Corner Center, it鈥檚 expected to be 鈥渉ugely impactful鈥� to the former Lord & Taylor wing.

鈥淲e recently opened up these guys at one of our premier shopping centers in New Jersey, and we are just watching the sales and traffic grow, not just for that tenant, but the surrounding tenants,鈥� said Jesse Benites, assistant vice president of national operations at Macerich, the owner of Tysons Corner Center and other shopping malls across the U.S.

House of Sport stores can be triple the size of a standard DICK鈥橲 Sporting Goods location. And instead of simply shopping for sneakers and other gear, its customers can toss a football on an indoor field or try out a driver at a golf simulator.

鈥淚t’s pretty cool, if you want to do rock climbing, if you wanted the golf simulator, maybe get a little batting practice in. They’ve got something for everybody,鈥� Benites said.

DICK鈥橲 House of Sport even does birthday parties. And parents 鈥� while they wait 鈥� are more than welcome to browse in-store or explore the rest of the mall.

Benites disagreed, however, with the idea that department stores are no longer valuable to malls.

Tysons Corner Center鈥檚 traditional anchors have done 鈥渧ery, very well,鈥� he said.

鈥淏loomingdale’s has done major reinvestment and renovation inside their space. Macy’s has completely remodeled their cosmetics, their men’s section, their women’s, they’re doing their vertical transportation as we speak. The same thing goes from Nordstrom. They’re actually investing in their space right now,鈥� Benites said.

Even so, he said the mall has taken advantage of pandemic-related and other store closures, seeing it as an opportunity to bring in more nonretail businesses and expand its dining and entertainment options.

鈥淲e have a little bit of something for everyone, and I think that’s why we are so successful,鈥� Benites said.

Tysons Corner Center foot traffic grew 10% last year, with 18 million visitors showing up to shop and socialize. Macerich expects that rate of growth to continue this year.

The mall鈥檚 new and existing tenants are doing their part.

鈥淲e opened, either had 33 new, remodeled or relocated stores just this past year, and our leasing activity is not slowing down,鈥� Benites said. 鈥淚 like to joke 鈥� if you walk the shopping center, by the time you make it to the end and start coming back, there’ll be a new store that’s opened up.鈥�

Department store struggles can be a short-term setback聽

鈥淛ust because an anchor store is leaving, that doesn’t mean that the malls are really dying. The malls are here to stay,鈥� Arora said.

And new tenants can be waiting for their opportunity.

Roughly six weeks after Saks Global announced the Saks Fifth Avenue closures, a land use attorney on behalf of Onelife Fitness.

Onelife was interested in repurposing the 105,000-square-foot Saks, replacing retail with full-service fitness amenities. It did something similar in 2025, turning an empty office space in the into a 53,000-square-foot health club.

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