Big Boxes Empty Out...

...thanks to the Daily Sprawl reader that forwarded us this AL.com article on how a growing number of big boxes are showing up empty in Birmingham, Alabama:

The nation's retail slump is being felt across the Birmingham-metro area as big-box retailer after big-box retailer closes its doors.

As the losses of those hulking retail spaces pile up, empty parking lots become common sights, leaving questions about how long they will stay vacant since the prospects of filling them are slim.

"There is no modern historical context for where we are in the market right now," said Hugo Isom, a partner with The Shopping Center Group, a retail brokerage firm that looks to fill about 1.5 million square feet of vacancies for clients in north-central Alabama.