As Americans pinch pennies, inexpensive enjoyable reshapes retail actual property

A household trip to Disney World has gotten so costly that Americans are more and more choosing lower-cost, native leisure choices that also ship shared experiences. And that shift is driving a wave of demand that is reshaping retail actual property, based on JLL.

The brokerage launched a report, “Game On! Entertainment Report 2026,” at ICSC’s retail actual property convention in Las Vegas on Monday. The research discovered that “location-based entertainment has crossed from amenity to primary tenant category.”

JLL’s database “tracked 4,746 existing locations across 207 concepts, with a 16.5 million square foot pipeline,” based on the report. Entertainment makes use of are filling extra space than they’re giving again — outpacing many conventional retail classes, JLL stated.

Part of that surge in demand is being fueled by Americans who nonetheless wish to get pleasure from shared actions exterior of the house however cannot afford the hovering value tags that some theme parks cost.

“For a budget-conscious family of four, three days at Disney World now costs $2,783 before airfare or a rental car,” the JLL report stated, citing an April NerdWallet evaluation.

“For roughly $35 a person, the same family can spend an afternoon at Slick City Action Park, Sky Zone, or one of dozens of newer concepts opening at a local power center,” JLL stated. “They will not get Cinderella’s castle, but they will get trampolines, climbing walls, rope courses, a birthday party room, and a story to tell at school on Monday.”

This habits displays the bifurcation of U.S. customers and “thematically, it fits right in with this idea of the barbell economy,” JLL stated. Wealthier households are capable of spend on costly journeys, and financially pinched households are on the lookout for cheaper choices, based on the report.

“Pricier, highly themed concepts cluster in [central business districts], Class A malls and lifestyle centers, while more affordable concepts are expanding in open-air centers and freestanding buildings,” JLL’s report stated.

The report’s writer, James Cook, director of analysis for JLL retail, acted as dialogue moderator Tuesday on the ICSC media breakfast the place officers from the brokerage, together with Naveen Jaggi, president of retail advisory companies, mentioned its findings.

JLL recognized eight classes of increasing leisure ideas:

• Family leisure facilities,1,717 areas similar to Dave & Busters.
• Trampoline parks and child zones, 1,355 areas like Sky Zone and Urban Air Adventure Park.
• Competitive socializing, 913 areas like Puttshack.
• Escape rooms and problem rooms, 430 areas like Escape the Room and Level99.
• Virtual actuality, 83 areas like Sandbox VR and Zero Latency VR.
• Art installations and selfie museums, 59 areas like Museum of Ice Cream and Meow Wolf.
• Arcade bars, 55 areas like 6-Bit Bar + Arcade.
• Esports, 55 areas like Contender Esports.

“Trampoline parks and kid zones are the single largest pipeline driver,” JLL stated in its report. “With 355 announced locations across 43 concepts representing 59% of all planned square footage, the category is the clearest expression of the repeat-visit spending mode.”

Vacancies of 25,000 to 50,000 sq. toes are anticipated to draw essentially the most new leasing exercise from leisure tenants, based on JLL. The midsize class of area “accounts for 38% of pipeline locations and roughly 10 million square feet of demand, a footprint well-suited to backfill big box vacancies and partial anchor replacements that remain abundant in many markets,” the report stated.

In addition, giant empty retail areas like “former theaters and department store segments will remain viable targets for entertainment expansion,” based on JLL.

One of the up-and-comers within the escape-and-challenge room class is Level99, the report stated. Each location, spanning 40,000 to 45,000 sq. toes, options greater than 50 challenges. One of its hottest video games is Axe Run, the place “players attempt to speed along a 20-foot-wide balance beam while avoiding a series of large axes that swing back and forth, alternately blocking the runner’s path,” JLL stated.

The idea is backed by a $50 million funding from Panera founder Ron Shaich’s Act III Holdings. Its 4 present areas embody one at a former Sears on the Natick Mall in Massachusetts and one in a former J.C. Penney at Providence Place in Rhode Island, based on JLL.

The report stated that Level99 can also be coming to Westfield Garden State Plaza at a former Forever 21 in Paramus, New Jersey, a former J.C. Penney on the King of Prussia mall in Pennsylvania, and a former NBA Experience area at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida.

JLL additionally cited examples of what it referred to as immersive leisure, together with the Netflix House venues which have debuted in King of Prussia, in a former Lord & Taylor, and at Galleria Dallas in a former Belk anchor retailer.