Kingston, Jamaica — 1 March 2026
Across parts of the United States, vacant retail space in malls and open-air shopping centres is increasingly being absorbed by private membership clubs catering to affluent consumers. As traditional department stores struggle and retail traffic fragments, landlords are turning to high-fee social clubs as anchor tenants — reshaping commercial real estate in the process.
The question for Jamaica is not whether this model will arrive wholesale, but whether aspects of it reflect deeper shifts in how commercial property is used, financed, and valued in an economy where discretionary spending remains uneven.
Retail Reinvention Through Membership
In several mid-sized American cities, private clubs with initiation fees in the thousands of US dollars are occupying prominent retail space once reserved for anchor stores. These venues combine fine dining, co-working areas, social lounges, and curated experiences. Landlords favour them for predictable membership incom…
