Indoor malls gain footfall in July as heat and dining draw shoppers inside

US indoor malls recorded a modest year-on-year increase in July foot traffic, suggesting that climate-controlled retail environments are benefiting from both summer weather and non-traditional anchor tenants.

The latest Placer.ai Mall Index, which tracks 100 top-tier indoor malls, 100 open-air shopping centres and 100 outlet malls nationwide, shows indoor visits rose 1.3 percent compared with July 2024. By contrast, outlet mall visits fell 2.1 percent and open-air centres slipped 0.3 percent, narrowing the gap with last year but still lagging behind enclosed formats.

Analysts point to two main factors behind the shift. First, summer heatwaves in many US regions have driven consumers indoors for comfort shopping. Second, the “halo effect” of unconventional anchors is pulling in traffic from well beyond the traditional retail catchment.

For fashion tenants, increases in incidental traffic can be critical. The US apparel sector remains in a volume-over-value phase for mid-market chains, and incremental footfall from dining-driven visits can help offset softer discretionary spending.

However, the July data also hint at structural limits. Weekly visit trends reveal that mid-month promotional events temporarily boosted traffic across all mall formats, but volumes softened toward month-end—suggesting sales may be pulling demand forward rather than creating sustained growth. For retailers, this raises the familiar challenge of converting a promotion-driven “sugar rush” into long-term customer engagement.

Indoor malls’ July rebound comes after a June decline and may indicate a stabilisation of in-person shopping in certain categories. But the uneven performance across formats underscores the competitive pressure on outlets and open-air centres, which must contend not only with weather but also with the continued shift of value-driven shoppers to e-commerce.