Kimco Realty's strategy for competing in the Internet age

With the demise of Blockbuster, Borders and other major retail chains, Internet sales of music, books and electronic goods have badly hurt some shopping center owners -- but Kimco Realty Corp. says it has not suffered much from that trend.

Few of Kimco's anchor tenants are among those hardest hit by Internet commerce, its founder and executive chairman, Milton Cooper, said Thursday in a conference call with analysts. Kimco, a real estate investment trust, is based in New Hyde Park.

"Thus far, no one is ordering lumber on the Internet," Cooper said. 

"There will be far less of an impact on supermarkets, discounters, warehouse clubs, off-price retailers, dollar stores, Home Depot, Lowe's," he said. 

(PBS TV in February aired a report on Cooper. Titled "King of the R.E.I.T.", the report says Cooper, "at age 81, is still actively involved in major real estate decisions" at Kimco)

Kimco's list of top 50 tenants "gives us some comfort that our exposure to the incursion of the Internet is, on a relative basis, somewhat muted," he said. "Our 3 largest tenants are Home Depot, TJX and Wal-Mart. In addition, I believe we are largest landlord of Costco." 

Kimco aggressively looks to fill space by seeking smaller tenants, too, Cooper said. It sends leasing representatives to dental conventions, aimed at getting new dentists to set up offices in its shopping centers. 

And medical clinics, urgent-care facilities, vocational schools and entertainment-focused businesses are more and more likely to fill vacant spots in shopping centers, he said. 

Kimco owns and operates what it says is North America's largest portfolio of neighborhood and community shopping centers. 

As of December 31 the company owned interests in 951 shopping centers with 138 million square feet of leasable space in 44 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and South America.