, Columnist
A Mall Landlord's Survival Guide: Buy Up All the Best
Simon Property is acquiring Taubman Centers in a play to be the strongest U.S. mall operator left standing.
The retail apocalypse has Simon chasing high-end locations such as Taubman’s Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey.
Photographer: Gabby Jones/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the retail apocalypse, only the strongest can survive. It’s why the Taubman family, among the biggest mall landlords in the U.S., is throwing in the towel after 70 years and ceding control to its larger rival, Simon Property Group Inc.
The merger had long been seen as an inevitability, if a bitter reality for the Taubmans, who watched their company’s stock recently descend to a 2009 recession low. Mall operators are looking for ways to strengthen their portfolios, and these two in particular share similarities.