Lifestyle angle for Seritage: how the SRG mall mix shapes its retail product slate

Edited by ad hoc news Lifestyle & Consumer Desk. Reviewed before publication on 06/16/2026 at 10:31 AM ET. Details in the imprint.

Seritage Growth Properties is not a traditional consumer brand, but for shoppers its real "product" is the changing line-up of lifestyle and retail concepts that replace former Sears and Kmart boxes in its properties across the United States. In recent years the company has repositioned much of its portfolio toward open-air, mixed-use formats that emphasize dining, entertainment and daily-needs retail to drive consumer traffic. This strategy effectively turns SRG's centers into curated lifestyle destinations where tenants' offerings are the end products seen by visitors.

From legacy department stores to lifestyle-focused centers

Seritage was created in 2015 to own and redevelop a portfolio of Sears and Kmart stores, with a mandate to transform underperforming department-store real estate into higher-yielding retail and mixed-use assets. The company has steadily sold non-core assets and concentrated capital on a smaller number of sites where it can create open-air centers anchored by grocery, entertainment and off-price retailers, along with restaurants and service uses that generate more consistent traffic than the legacy department stores they replace. According to the company's filings, a significant portion of remaining properties are either multi-tenant retail centers or in various stages of redevelopment into mixed-use projects. The current portfolio overview on Seritage's website describes this focus on open-air and mixed-use assets.

For consumers, this repositioning shows up as a broader mix of everyday retail categories at former single-tenant big-box sites. Where a property once housed only a Sears or Kmart, visitors may now find grocery stores, fitness centers, discount fashion chains, quick-service restaurants, casual dining and entertainment venues clustered in a single open-air layout. These tenant mixes are intended to extend dwell time, encourage cross-shopping and adapt to evolving consumer habits that favor convenience and experience over traditional enclosed-mall formats.

SRG's approach often involves demising large boxes into smaller units, ground-leasing pads to national chains and, in select markets, adding non-retail components such as residential or office space to create more resilient, "live-work-shop" environments. The company highlights several flagship redevelopments where former Sears sites have been subdivided and re-tenanted with a mix of lifestyle and necessity-based retailers, aiming to reposition those locations as regional draws rather than single-store destinations. While the specific tenant lists vary by market, the common thread is an emphasis on categories less vulnerable to e-commerce, such as food, health and wellness, value-oriented fashion and entertainment.

Seritage also continues to optimize its portfolio through asset sales and selective reinvestment, a strategy that indirectly shapes the consumer-facing product landscape by determining which centers receive capital for redevelopment. Properties with strong demographics and traffic potential are prioritized for transformation into multi-tenant retail or mixed-use projects, while weaker assets may be sold to other developers or investors. Recent company communications have outlined ongoing efforts to reduce debt and simplify the portfolio, reinforcing the focus on a smaller set of core properties where curated tenant mixes can support long-term traffic and rent growth. Seritage's investor news releases discuss these strategic asset sales and redevelopment priorities.

From a shopper's perspective, this means that the most visible "product" associated with SRG is the evolving experience at its centers: the convenience of combining grocery runs with dining, fitness or entertainment in one trip; the availability of off-price and value-oriented fashion options; and the integration of services such as clinics, pet care or personal grooming. The company aims to capture both discretionary and non-discretionary spending by aligning its tenant roster with categories that consumers still prefer to visit in person, even as online shopping grows. In practice, each redeveloped property becomes a tailored mix of lifestyle and necessity retail designed around local demand, rather than a one-size-fits-all template.

Strategically, this consumer-facing evolution sits alongside Seritage's financial objective of monetizing and unlocking value from its legacy real estate portfolio. The company's transition from a large base of legacy boxes to a leaner set of redeveloped assets has implications not only for shoppers and tenants but also for shareholders tracking progress against stated goals. Seritage is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SRG, and its common shares were last quoted in USD trading on that venue.

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