Shopping centers remain very popular in the United States — in the face of strong competition from online retailing and stores not located in shopping centers. However, this strength varies by the type of center.

Nielsen reports that:

“According to the 2014 State of the Shopping Center report, the number of large shopping centers (200K+ gross leasable area {GLA}) grew by 3 percent in the past year. Community centers, which feature neighborhood-serving amenities like grocery stores and dry cleaners, are still the most common type of shopping center in 2014, comprising 46 percent of centers. In 2013, Nielsen reported the rise of lifestyle centers and the decline of traditional malls like regional and super-regional centers. This trend is holding true in 2014 as consumers continue to be drawn to the shopping experience offered by lifestyle centers with their mix of retail, restaurants and entertainment options.

Nielsen also looked at the expansion of retail chains by category: “Bigger isn’t always better. Since the start of the Great Recession at the end of 2007, small formats like dollar stores, convenience stores and drug stores have driven retail chain expansion. Of the nearly 17,000 new stores that opened between 2007 and 2013, 36 percent were dollar stores, 32 percent were convenience stores and 21 percent were drugstores.”