Factory outlets could provide an ideal solution to electric vehicle charging centers across the country. Many locations are available, they have food options, and they offer easy on-freeway access, making them ideal locations for charging centers.

The Mall of America is using Sension's StepInside Indoor Positioning System, an app-based indoor positioning system. It can guide visitors to their desired locations using their mobile devices via Cisco wireless access points.

The late shopping surge helped boost US retail sales by 7.9% between Black Friday and Christmas Eve, creating an improvement of 4.6% for November and December, data from MasterCard Advisors indicate. The season also saw significant gains in sales of furniture and women's apparel.

New Upper Valley Associates has finalized the purchase of The Upper Valley Mall, a property worth an estimated $20 million in 2012, for $2.65 million. The almost 500,000-square-foot shopping center in Clark County, Ohio, was sold via an online auction.

US shoppers are spending again as consumer sentiment improves. Shopping center investors, retailers and landlords hope demand for physical retail space will continue to be strong in 2016. "Retailers and shopping centers will focus even more energy on the dual poles of desire of the American consumer for value on the one hand and entertainment on the other," says James Cook of JLL. "Stores with the strongest path to growth next year include those that can offer both."