谁来填补RadioShack关门后腾出来的商铺

    也许你曾经在一家RadioShack的门店里买过手机充电器，不久这家店面可能会被三明治店面取代，但这对消费者而言是个好消息。

    电子产品零售商RadioShack去年第四季度同店销售额暴跌19％。随后，RadioShack于周二宣布计划关闭旗下5,100家连锁店中的1,100家店面。

    大家可能会想，RadioShacks怎么会有这么多店面？其实很多人也都觉得惊讶。相比之下，墨西哥快捷休闲类连锁餐厅Chipotle（CMG）共有1,600家店面。Panera面包店（Panera Bread）拥有约1,800家店面。甚至来爱德（Rite Aid）药店的数量（4,600）都没有RadioShack那么多。

    约有20%的RadioShack（RSH）店面即将关门，大家也许还会在心里惊叹：“哇，这得腾出多少空间呀！”你说得对。零售商减少实体店面时，人们最关心的问题是，空出来的商铺会由谁来填补？

    周二，RadioShack公司告诉《财富》（Fortune），目前还没有发布将要关闭的店面清单。不过，这家公司在新闻稿中已经表示，将根据地点、区域人口情况、租期和财务业绩来决定最终将关闭哪些店面。

    世邦魏理仕零售服务部（CBRE Retail Services）高级董事总经理纳文•贾吉称，RadioShack很可能会关闭那些销售不佳且租金高昂的城市店面。

    RadioShack拥有独立店面和购物商场中的店面。贾吉表示，对RadioShack而言，关闭商场门店更为容易，因为商场所有者对商场店面空间享有优先权，RadioShack本身无法将店面转租。

    关闭独立店面的难度较大，尤其是那些租约还有好几年年才会到期的RadioShack店面。这种情况下，就要依赖电子零售商RadioShack自己来填补空间。

    Reis商业房地产数据显示，2013年第四季度，美国全国零售房产空置率为10.4%。2013全年空置率下降了30个基点，比2011年的史上高峰值11.5%仅低了70个基点。大家会觉得这将进一步增加RadioShack填补所有空间的难度。再加上有新闻称，Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) 和梅西百货公司(Macy's)也在削减实体店面，将更多精力转向电子商务领域。

    不过，RadioShack也许能够借此赢得喘息的机会。它每个店面的面积约为74-93平方米（800-1000平方英尺）。零售房产中，小空间比大空间更容易租出去。想想吧，有几家企业能够填补这些巨大的电器城。有些零售领域发展相对良好，贾吉表示：“如今零售业是食品、时装和家具的天下，这三大类别都表现出了良好的增长。”

    如果开时装店或家具店，RadioShack的店面空间太小。这样就只剩下食品了，而百货商店显然不可能。截至去年11月的12个月期间，快餐店的客流量增长了8%，快餐店是最好的选择。贾吉说：“现在汉堡和墨西哥卷饼店的花样很多，相关概念都数以百计”。

    RadioShack决定关闭20%的店面，这件事并不让人意外；德克萨斯州的零售商Forth Worth去年亏损了4亿美元。专门从事商业房地产和投资管理的金融和专业服务公司仲量联行（Jones Lang LaSalle）零售部首席执行官格雷格•马隆尼说：“我们觉得意外的是，RadioShack居然花了这么长时间才做出这个决定。”

    马隆尼表示，RadioShack减少店面数量，可以更好地服务于某些特定市场领域。至于其他人，大家就在那些曾经摆放电池的地方等着吃墨西哥卷饼吧。（财富中文网）

    译者：Lina

    Here's some good news for consumers: A sandwich shop may soon replace the RadioShack where you bought a phone charger that one time.

    On Tuesday, the electronics retailer announced plans to close up to 1,100 of its 5,100 stores as its same-store sales plunged 19% in the fourth quarter of last year.

    If you're thinking, "Who knew there were that many RadioShacks?" you're not alone. By comparison, fast casual Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle (CMG) has 1,600 locations in total. Panera Bread (PNRA) has about 1,800. Even Rite Aid (RAD) has fewer locations -- 4,600 -- than RadioShack nationwide.

    As 20% of those RadioShack (RSH) locations are set to shutter, another exclamation might come to mind: "Man, that's a lot of empty real estate." Right you are. At a time when retailers are shrinking their brick-and-mortar footprints, the big question is, Who will fill all that space?

    RadioShack told Fortune on Tuesday that it is not yet releasing its store closing list, though it said in a press release that it will decide which stores to eliminate based on "location, area demographics, lease life, and financial performance."

    It's likely, then, that the closings will come in cities where RadioShack is getting the least sales bang for its real estate rental buck, says Naveen Jaggi, senior managing director of CBRE Retail Services.

    RadioShack has standalone stores and shopping mall locations. Closing its mall stores is an easier prospect for the retailer since the mall owner has first dibs on the rights to space; RadioShack itself can't sublet the space, says Jaggi.

    Standalone stores are tougher to ditch, especially if there are several years left on RadioShack's lease. In that case, it will be up to the electronics retailer to fill that space.

    The national vacancy rate for retail real estate was 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to Reis, which tracks commercial real estate data. The rate was down 30 basis points for all of 2013, which put it just 70 basis points shy of its historical peak of 11.1% in 2011. You'd think that that figure -- along with news that Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Macy's (M) are also whittling down their physical locations in favor of greater e-commerce efforts -- would make it difficult for RadioShack to fill all that space.

    But here's where RadioShack may catch a break. Each of its locations is approximately 800 to 1,000 square feet, and in retail real estate, smaller space is easier to lease than big box locations -- just think of the limited number of businesses that could fill those giant abandoned Circuit City spots. Plus, there are segments of retail that are relatively healthy: "Retail today is about food, fashion, furniture," Jaggi says. "Those are three categories that are showing good growth."

    RadioShack's store space is too small for a clothing or furniture shop. That leaves food, and a grocery store is obviously out of the question. Quick serve restaurants -- an industry in which customer visits increased by 8% for the 12 months ending in November -- present the best option. "And there are hundreds of concepts out there now for burger and taco places," Jaggi says.

    RadioShack's decision to close 20% of its stores didn't come as a shock; the Forth Worth, Texas-based retailer lost $400 million last year. "We're surprised it's taken this long," says Greg Maloney, chief executive officer of the retail division at Jones Lang LaSalle, a financial and professional services firm that specializes in commercial real estate and investment management.

    The reduction in stores will position RadioShack to better serve niches in particular markets, Maloney says. And the rest of us will now enjoy a taco where those stacks of batteries used to be.