Mega-stores crowd out mom & pop strip center competitors. (large shopping malls provide stiff competition to small traditional shops) (Commercial Real Estate: Quarterly Report)

Strip shopping centers are changing their stripes.

The biggest shift: "mega-center" stores are on the rise and mom-and-pop shops are on the decline.

"The emergence of such mega-center stores as Wal-Mart, Target and Meijer as anchor tenants in strip centers is putting a squeeze on the mom-and-pop shops that have traditionally been housed in the smaller spaces within such shopping centers," said Bob Matias.

A vice president at the Columbus office of CB Commercial and director of the Ohio chapter of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Matias said, "The mega-stores offer wider selections and lower prices than the smaller shops can. As a result, many …