Retail rentals bouncing back to pre-Covid levels

Retail rentals are recovering after more than a year of decline with sales in general having almost gotten back to pre-pandemic levels. Retailers and real estate agents say rentals have started to climb and are inching toward 2019 levels for the first time in the past 18 months.

Retail sales rebounded to 96% of what they used to be before Covid in September, according to a survey by the Retailers Association of India. In recent weeks, they have even surpassed the pre-pandemic trajectory amid heightened purchases of food to fashion products to jewellery ahead of Diwali . That’s encouraging many retailers to think about expanding again.