Hunton Retail Law Resource

The post-COVID real estate market has seen a surge in luxury gyms and fitness spaces.  Members are willing to shell out several hundred dollars a month for memberships at popular high-end fitness chains. These modern luxury gyms offer more than just workout spaces.  Many offer holistic lifestyle services such as spas, hair salons, social amenities, co-working spaces, and daycare. These luxury gyms are gaining larger footprints and emerging as a unique retail asset.

When developing a retail shopping center, landlords have a vision for what that shopping center will look like. This vision comes to life as the shopping center is leased up and tenants open for business. In order to preserve that vision, and ultimately the marketability of the shopping center, landlords will craft permitted use, prohibited use and exclusive use concepts into their leases to ensure that the shopping center occupants continue to operate in the shopping center throughout the term of their leases in accordance with the landlord’s vision.

The FTC is once again taking issue with hidden fees, suing Adobe, Inc., alleging the company and two corporate executives deceived consumers by hiding the early termination fee for a popular subscription plan and making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions.

Strip malls are seeing a surge in valuation, perhaps due to Americans’ desire for the in-and-out convenience that they offer due to their proximity to main roads. Once seen as eyesores, some strip malls are getting face lifts. With many Americans working from home at least a few days per week, consumers are craving accessibility, one-stop shopping and easy parking. As a result, strip malls are seeing an increase in foot traffic during weekdays. Trips to strip malls increased 18% in 2022 compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. Most visitors of strip malls are hyper-local and visit the centers frequently and for short durations.