The Short Version

• Retail centers are embracing pet-friendly policies — from dog-welcoming patios to pup-centric events — to attract foot traffic and foster community engagement.
• Open-air and mixed-use developments work especially well for pet inclusion, thanks to common areas, outdoor bars and dining spots, pet-focused stores and pets living on-site.
• The rise in pet ownership during the pandemic drove a change in consumer behavior, and many shoppers now bring their dogs along on errands and outings.
• Major landlords like Brookfield Properties are implementing formal pet policies, while some remain cautious due to cleanliness and operational concerns.
• Pet-friendly programming is often tied to charitable giving, with centers and communities hosting events like Pupchella and holiday doghouse auctions to raise funds for local shelters and humane societies.

If pets are family, it stands to reason that a retail center can boost foot traffic by welcoming four-legged family members. Retail settings now host pet-waste stations, pet-food and pet-grooming concepts and pet-focused human-food-and-beverage spaces, not to mention a marketing library of pawesome puns.

Welcoming Paws: Retailers Tap Into the Pet-Lover Economy

At the 365,000-square-foot Bell Tower open-air center in Fort Myers, Florida, a focus on pets includes those elements, as well as monthly Yappy Hours and an annual Pupchella music festival, said Jennie Zafft, retail services director of marketing for Avison Young, which manages the property. Meanwhile, retailers that welcome pets into their stores let customers know by placing paw print signs in their windows, she added.

“We’re trying to take advantage of the connection between people and their pets by welcoming them to our properties,” Zafft said. “Our tenants have been very positive about the programming. They love seeing dogs on-site.”

Zafft reported it’s not unusual to see cats in backpacks, a la Taylor Swift, and that a shopper once carted her rabbits around in a wagon at another pet-friendly property that Avison Young manages. Still, dogs are the primary beneficiaries of pet-friendly policies. “People know their pets,” she said. “Most cats aren’t necessarily social.”

Pandemic Pets Shift Retail Habits

People’s attention to pets arguably has grown since the pandemic, when homebound workers got dogs for companionship and stress relief. A 2021 ASPCA survey deduced that about 23 million households acquired a dog or cat in roughly the first year of the pandemic. Meanwhile, corporate stay-at-home orders also worked out well for the dogs who already had families, as they had been used to being alone for eight hours a day.

Now that humans are out and about again, their dogs are still by their sides. Twenty-eight percent of owners bring their dogs to pet-friendly retailers, according to pet-sitting and dog-walking network Rover, which released a survey of 1,000 U.S. pet “parents” in April. What’s more, 23% of owners frequently take their dogs on outings and an additional 60% do so occasionally, Rover found.

Open-air centers with common areas, outdoor bars and dining spots, and pet-focused stores are ideal settings for pet-friendly experiences, said JLL’s Norma Garza, senior general manager of LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch in Katy, Texas. The majority of the 412,900-square-foot lifestyle center’s restaurant patios are open to dogs, as are pet-friendly stores like Pucci, a cafe and pet boutique that serves drinks and treats and uses some of its proceeds to support pet rescue organizations. “We pride ourselves on being a dog-friendly shopping center,” Garza said, noting that the pets must be well-behaved and on leashes.

It's not just open-air centers, though. Some enclosed centers have let the dogs in, as well. In 2023, citing the APSCA’s research and long waitlists at dog day cares, Brookfield Properties launched a pet-friendly “pawlicy” at its U.S. malls, including Fashion Show Las Vegas, Park Meadows in suburban Denver and Oakbrook Center in suburban Chicago. Brookfield encourages patrons to post to social media images of its pets at the properties, but the landlord requires leashes and stresses that dogs do their business outdoors.

Still, the doo-doo business is one reason more mall owners, including CBL, doesn’t formally welcome pets inside its properties. “It’s not the greatest thing for a mall when you’re talking about cleanliness and other considerations,” said CBL CEO Stephen Lebovitz. “Then again, when I walk our malls, I see people with pets. People just take their dogs everywhere.”

Not Every Center Is Onboard With Pets Indoors

Mixed-use communities, meanwhile, are prime settings for four-legged friends. Selig Enterprises decided eight years ago, before The Works on Atlanta’s Upper Westside broke ground, that the project would be pet friendly. The developer anticipated that a high number of the project’s apartment renters would have pets, said Selig senior vice president of development Malloy Peterson.

Designing Mixed-Use Spaces With Pets in Mind

The first phase of The Works, a redevelopment of 80 industrial acres, began opening in 2020 and includes 185,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 125,000 square feet of office and 306 apartments. Pets are allowed in groomers and pet-related stores, Peterson observed, and are welcome in common areas and The Camp, a one-acre central park. Virtually all bar and restaurant patios are also pet friendly, she said.

Additionally, Selig brought in Fetch Park, an off-leash-green-space operator that offers memberships for dogs, an Airstream bar called BARk, TVs, live entertainment and Wi-Fi. The Works also runs a monthly Dog of the Month social media campaign that includes a $200 prize package.

“I don’t see our residents walking around without their dogs,” Peterson said. “It’s like a dog show.”

At Oak, a 43-acre mixed-use community that began opening last fall in Oklahoma City, Veritas Development brought in a pet-friendly apartment complex and hotel, said Stacy Schuch, director of retail activation for the property. She added that some store managers there bring their dogs to work. Oak’s 135,000-square-foot retail and restaurant component includes ample common areas and green space that, coupled with an open-container policy, encourage people to walk or relax with their dogs, she added.

“Through our research, we understood that pets were an integral part of the family in our community,” she explained, “but until you really see it, you don’t know what to expect. People are bringing their pets to our farmer’s market and our live events. We just love seeing that.”

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How Pet-Friendly Events Support Local Shelters

Central to the pet-friendly marketing strategy is raising funds for shelters, which saw an influx of pets as the pandemic waned and inflation rose. Bell Tower donates certain fees collected at its monthly Yappy Hours and annual Pupchella event to the Gulf Coast Humane Society, for example, and an annual Pupfest with live music, dog vendors and other activities at The Works raises funds for the Atlanta Humane Society.

Meanwhile, Oak held a pet night over the holidays in partnership with the Oklahoma Humane Society. That, in turn, sparked a fundraising event in which designers, architects and others will build doghouses that Oak will display for a week and then auction off during the property’s Christmas in July event. Proceeds will benefit the humane society. Organizers set a goal of 12 doghouses, but thanks to heightened interest, they’re expecting around 15, Schuch said. “We’re seeing people asking how they can get involved and our tenants are asking how they can help,” she added. “We’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the results.”