Too Much Sun

The Sun Belt seems to be leading the nation into a state of retail glut. A recent survey by the National Research Bureau shows that Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the most retail-besotted metropolitan area in the country. At a time when the U.S. average has climbed to 15.9 square feet of retail space per every man, woman and child, the Florida city leads the nation with nearly double that – 30.8 square feet per capita.

A Florida sister city, Orlando, is second with 28.8 square feet per capita. Atlanta, in third place with 27.2 square feet of retail per capita, is the most densely stored of the 10 largest U.S. retail markets (as measured by total sales). Rounding out the Top Ten are Charlotte, N.C., and Denver, 24.7 square feet of retail per capita; Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Va., and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, 24.6 square feet; Columbus, Ohio, 24.3 (the most densely stored Northern city); Phoenix, 23.9; and Kansas City, 23.8.

A concurrent survey by Dorey Research Group (a commercial real-estate information firm) reported that Atlanta also had nearly 13.9 million square feet of vacant retail space at the close of 2000, 37 percent more than a year earlier.