In fact, Kimco has been proactively curbing its exposure to Sears/Kmart since 2015 and the company gained from the recapturing of eight Sears/Kmart locations and achieved an average rent spread of 211%.The recaptures have also prompted revamp of four of those centers. Moreover, apart from Kimco, the other well-known retails REITs — Simon Property Group Inc. SPG and Macerich MAC — have also made concerted efforts to revamp the former Sear sites. Leases of several such sites with Sears have been running for long and the rents paid are comparatively low. Therefore, recapturing such Sears sites gives retail REITs the chance to raise lease prices on those spaces. Admittedly, retail REITs have been struggling for quite some time as mall traffic continues to suffer from the rapid shift in customers' shopping preference to the online channel.