Reichle Klein Group’s 2025 Midyear Retail Market Report

The Reichle Klein Group mid-year 2025 survey of the Toledo, Ohio retail space market found that the slide in market fundamentals triggered by general distress among national retail chains, and specifically the sudden closure of all the 23 Rite Aid stores in the Toledo market in late 2023 and early2024, has continued but at a slower rate. Additional stores in the market closed in the first half of 2025 and the market again registered negative net absorption totaling 155,316 square feet, but this is roughly half the amount of negative net absorption recorded in the second half of 2024. As examples, in the first half of 2025 Big Lots closed an additional 35,000 square foot store in Oregon, Ohio and Dollar General closed several inner-city stores.

Consequently, the overall vacancy rate for the Toledo market increased from 8.3% at the end of 2024 to 8.8% in June of 2025. Vacancy among anchor space and in-line space both increased by similar margins in the first half of 2025.

The overall market average asking rental rate was essentially flat from year-end 2024 to mid-year 2025 when it stood at $11.17 per square foot. Over that period, the average asking rate among anchor spaces sank by $.29 per square foot while the average asking rate among in-line spaces in- creased by $.30 per square foot.

Several of the vacant former Rite Aid stores have been leased or are in the process of being leased. This has been a slow but steady process as the market works to absorb the vast quantity of properties that hit the market in a short period of time. Users for these properties include hardware, thrift stores, dollar stores, medical and fuel/convenience stores Tariff issues and the economic uncertainty flowing from them are causing some pullback and disruption of leasing activities, but there remains a considerable amount of new leasing activity.

 
Active user categories are discount retailers, furniture retailers, and home furnishing retailers. Quick service restaurant users also continue to be highly active for both in-line and free-standing locations. Shake Shack announced its first planned store in the Toledo market, and others like Chipotle, Raising Cane’s, Roosters and Chick-Fil-A are still adding units. 7 Brew and Scooter’s coffee are also active. C store/gas station users are also very active as Sheetz continues to fill out their market footprint and Casey’s has begun acquiring sites.

Meanwhile, new construction activity has rebounded a bit. Most of the space under construction is being built to suit. Two Dollar Tree stores were un- der construction in South Toledo and Perrysburg at mid-year, joining Sheetz and 7 Brew each with stores under construction at the time of this re- port. Additionally, the 8,100 square foot first phase of Oregon Town Center has begun
construction.