National REIT's Shift to Grocery-Anchored Centers Pays Off During Pandemic

Weingarten Realty Inc.'s shift to grocery-anchored centers is paying off during the pandemic as surging sales from its grocery tenants softened some of the damage it saw from other retail tenants suffering from a catastrophic drop in sales. Fine dining restaurant tenants such as Morton's Steakhouse and Cheesecake Factory were more likely to seek rent deferrals in April compared to other restaurant and retail categories, Weingarten Realty executives said during a May 8 earnings call.