In addition, shopping centers continue to face competitive pressure from various versions of the lifestyle center — those properties that
combine upscale mall tenants with outdoor ambience along with a mix of restaurants and entertainment.
In Columbia, S.C., for example, the newly merged Verizon wireless company (
combining Bell Atlantic and GTE) is negotiating to double the premerger 70,000 square feet the company had taken last fall in an
upscale but struggling shopping
mall.