Philadelphia Big-Box Retail Report H1 2024

A persistently declining amount of inventory constrained growth within Greater Philadelphia’s big-box retail market causing a slowdown in leasing activity during the first half of 2024. While the market showed signs of cooling after a record-breaking performance in 2023 with 28 new openings and over 2.2M square feet (sq.-ft.) of positive net absorption, the market was far from stagnant. Seven new big-box stores totaling just under 500,000 sq.-ft. of retail opened their doors in the first half of 2024, and another 10 are projected to open in the latter half of the year. In conjunction, the number of available spaces shrunk by from 73 to 66, a 10% decrease. Inventory in H1 2024 was the lowest seen in at least five years.