Many of North America's Most Productive Malls are in Canada

Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Photo from ExploringLasVegas.com

We're still surprised that many Canadian malls are out-performing American malls' sales per square foot. Vancouver BC's Pacific Centre recently pulled ahead of Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace as the most productive shopping centre in North America (excluding Pacific Centre's 636,000 square foot Sears store that is closing October 7 2012). 

All prices are in Canadian Dollars (which at press time is comparable to the American Dollar). These quotes are 2012 estimates from KPMG. KPMG puts Pacific Centre's 2012 per square foot analysis at $1580/square foot. Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace comes in at about $1470/square foot. 

Here is our list of 'top 15' North American malls and their sales per square foot: 

1. Pacific Centre, Vancouver BC Canada: $1580/sq ft

2. Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas NV USA: $1470/sq ft

3. Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto ON Canada: $1320/sq ft

4. Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto ON Canada: $1300/sq ft

5. Ala Moana Shopping Centre, Honolulu HI USA: $1250/sq ft

6. Oakridge Shopping Centre, Vancouver BC Canada: $1200/sq ft

7. Chinook Centre, Calgary AB Canada: $1055/sq ft

8. Mall at Short Hills, Short Hills NJ USA: $1050/sq ft

9. Mall at Millenia, Orlando FL USA: $1040/sq ft

10. Rideau Centre, Ottawa ON Canada: $1020/sq ft

11: Sherway Gardens, Toronto ON Canada: $950

12: Fairview Mall, Toronto ON Canada: $880/sq ft

13: Fashion Valley Shopping Centre, San Diego CA USA: $875/sq ft

14: Peter Pond Mall, Ft. McMurray AB Canada: $850/sq ft (we're not joking about this one)

15: Garden State Plaza, Paramus NJ USA: $750/sq ft

That's 6 American malls and 9 Canadian malls. 

We note that Pacific Centre's Apple store pulls in over $70 million/year at just 5366 square feet. We're thinking Apple stores might also prop sales at some of these other shopping centres. 

We were at a bit of a loss as to why Canadian malls were higher. Then we found this excellent analysis by David Fitzpatrick of REUrbanist: http://reurbanist.com/2012/08/growth-in-canadian-mall-sales-performance. This guy knows his stuff. We recommend reading his article if you're interested in examining how currencies and other factors may contribute to Canada vs. USA mall performance. Our favorite quote from David's article?

"I think this chart just shows that you are getting ripped off a lot more than you were a decade ago when you buy retail merchandise in Canada. That $150 CDN dress you bought is worth $150 USD today, but would have been worth only $95 USD in 2002. And most likely, you are taking on increasingly depressing levels of consumer debt to make that purchase." (this comes after the author noting a direct correlation between the closing currency gap and the increased productivity of Canadian malls)

REUrbanist website: http://reubanist.com

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