Amazon Prime Day 2025: Deals, tips and what to know
Amazon Prime Day 2025 is starting soon. From top deals to smart tips, here’s everything you need to know.
- Tallahassee’s commercial real estate market is generally healthy, but some shopping centers struggle with vacancies after large retailers close.
- The success of a shopping center depends on its location, age, and the presence of anchor tenants.
- Shopping centers like Miracle Plaza and Market Square thrive due to strong anchors and renovations, while others face challenges attracting new tenants.
- Gyms have filled some vacant spaces, but repurposing large retail spaces can be difficult.
In Tallahassee, like other cities, vast empty store fronts in several shopping centers are vestiges of big box brands and chains buckling under economic pressure. They’re dark, vacant reminders of consumer shifts to online spending or tapered revenue streams.
What comes next all depends on the three “A’s” — area, age of the shopping center and whether there’s an anchor tenant. Shopping centers missing one or two these key factors may struggle to drum up foot traffic, said commercial real estate broker Karrie Larson, CEO and owner of Larson Park Realty.
“There may be something where they split the space up … make it into smaller spaces to maybe attract different tenants,” Larson said.
In recent years, some of the retail chains that have closed stores in Tallahassee include Party City on Apalachee Parkway, Bed, Bath & Beyond near Governor’s Square Mall, Big Lots on Mahan Drive and JOANN Fabrics and Tuesday Morning, both off Thomasville Road.
Some shopping centers won’t have a hard time securing a viable replacement, Larson said. Others may see lingering vacancies.
Yet, overall, commercial real estate experts say Tallahassee’s market is healthy and and continues to show upward trends at the mid-year mark.
Thriving shopping center observations: The Miracle Plaza case study
Miracle Plaza is one of Tallahassee’s most vibrant shopping centers. Years ago, its anchor tenant was the now shuttered Miracle 5 movie theater.
By October 2013, a much-anticipated Whole Foods grocery store filled the void and brought organic and healthier options to the Thomasville Road shopping center, followed by a steady stream of boutiques, restaurants and fitness gyms. Most recently, J. Crew Factory opened its first Tallahassee store in the shopping center.
Larson said the Miracle Plaza shopping center is a prime example of what works well, even as more consumers turn to online shopping.
“You have the area … It’s been refreshed, and you have anchors now,” Larson said. “You have solid anchors that people want to be next to. Smaller tenants want to be next to (the anchors) and they’re willing to pay for it because they want that traffic next to their store.”
Other examples of thriving commercial spaces include Varsity Plaza on West Tennessee Street. It’s anchored by a small-format Target store, which is a downsized version of its typical store.
Less than a mile away off Pensacola Street, the WestEnd Square shopping center sold in March for $24 million after undergoing major facade improvements that attracted new anchor tenants like Aldi, Five Below and Planet Fitness.
On Thomasville Road, another commercial real estate success story is the Market Square shopping center, which was down to a less than a handful of core tenants just a few years ago.
It went from seeing a mass exodus of small businesses and a failed attempt to bring movie theater anchor once the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world into economic uncertainty five years ago to a complete turnaround.
Its new anchor, a REI Co-Op store, a specialty outdoor retailer, opened its first Tallahassee store in the shopping center three years ago. The national chain drew more known-name restaurants, including First Watch and Conners Steak and Seafood and retained legacy stores like Southern Seafood and Market Square Liquors.
“It was becoming old,” Larson said. “But, they put money in it now and refreshed it. Now you have good anchors and you’re back to those key three factors. You have the area, the age and you have the anchors now.”
To date, both the Market Square, Varsity Plaza and Miracle Plaza shopping centers are at or near 100 percent occupancy.
Shopping centers that lost major tenants struggle
Across the street from the Miracle Plaza Shopping Center, there’s a stark difference. It lost its anchor tenant, JOANN Fabric and Crafts, earlier this year as the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January and later opted to close all of its stores by May 31.
It also lost Tallahassee’s sole Tuesday Morning store front, when the national retail chain featuring housewares closed all of its stores two years ago.
“Think about how you feel when you drive into a parking lot of the Whole Foods,” Larson said. “It’s a well, thought-out parking. You’re usually not frustrated trying to get around the parking lot. And the places that are in there just look nice … It’s welcoming.
“And then you go across the street and you don’t get that same good vibe,” Larson continued.
She said the shopping center doesn’t have a key anchor and it’s an aging property, which will prevent it from being a profitable center.
“They’re in the right area,” Larson said. “The age and appearance of it needs a refresh. The age is an issue and that impacts the smaller tenants’ ability to be successful … The owners are in the long tail of their (Return On Investment) so they need an anchor tenant that will come in and put money into the building.”
New gyms beef up anemic shopping centers
So who would move into these commercial spaces?
Larson said it’s just a matter of time but something will likely surface as a viable option. In addition, she said, some shopping centers that have lost major tenants have been an attractive option for new fitness gyms looking for ample space.
That’s the case for the former Bed, Bath & Beyond on Governor Square Boulevard that closed two years ago due to bankruptcy filings. It was replaced with Amped Fitness, a Florida-based gym chain with 24/7 access.
On Tharpe Street, the former Winn Dixie grocery store was replaced with a Crunch Fitness, making it the new anchor for the shopping center.
While new gyms have bailed out some local shopping centers, Lafayatte Place on Mahan Drive suffered a blow when discount retailer Big Lots closed its doors for good earlier this year after it filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2024.
“That may be something where they split the space up,” Larson said, adding another gym tenant wouldn’t be a practical option. “They would still have the gym (YouFit Gym) as sort of an anchor.”
Overview of Florida’s commercial real estate market
Disappearing stores are happening throughout the state and nation, most of which are the result of corporate decisions to shutter locations or sell assets.
In some cases, the companies have been acquired by private equity firms that may not be investing in keeping the business relevant, said Brad O’Connor, chief economist at Florida REALTORS.
“It’s not that the demand for the things these stores sell has disappeared. It’s that people are finding the experience to be either stale or inconvenient at this point when they’ve got other options,” O’Connor said.
He said large commercial spaces can stay vacant for months, if not years, because they’re hard to repurpose — even if development is mushrooming around it. That, he said, is always the challenge and the last option may be to raze the property and build something new.
“When a lot of it is happening at once, it really sticks out,” O’Connor said, adding the best option is to find another retailer for the space. “There are still plenty of large retailers out there. Ross, Bells, Michaels are all over the state. But, if they’ve already got a store somewhere nearby, obviously they’re not going to move in. Sometimes, it just takes a long time to find the right fit.”
But the state’s overall commercial real estate market is strong, experts said.
The driving force behind that trend is the state’s job market and its ability to fuel various sectors, including technology and healthcare. That, in turn, is boosting more interest in office space in both Tallahassee and cities across the state.
According to a Florida Commercial Real Estate Market Mid-2025 Update by the Sarasota-based Largo Capital, a commercial real estate firm: the office space market is mixed throughout the state.
Its July 1 report said core submarkets, such as Miami and West Palm Beach, are attracting relocations and commanding high rents. In contrast, Jacksonville and parts of Tampa are seeing higher vacancies and pressure on Class B assets, referring to older but viable commercial spaces.
In addition, the report said, necessity-based retail like grocery-anchored and neighborhood centers remain strong.
“Vacancy is below 4% in most metros. Sarasota and Bradenton are drawing more investor attention due to strong local demographics and limited new supply,” the report said.
Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
