A VIEW OF DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH. | PHOTO BY DAVE DICELLO

How is Downtown Pittsburgh’s retail market doing?

Five years after the start of the pandemic, growth in food and beverage businesses and small retailers are driving Downtown’s economic recovery, and stakeholders are now turning their focus on ways to fill the large vacant retail spaces that still remain.

And recovery is not going to be dependent on a single group of people — but on a mix of visitors, residents, full-time employees, hybrid workers and students, according to a State of Pittsburgh Report Q2 presented Tuesday by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

Within the next decade, the PDP aims to increase Downtown’s residential population from fewer than 7,000 to 15,000 people and retail occupancy by 10 percent.

Currently, there are 31 vacant retail spaces under 5,000 square feet (the easiest to fill), but three-quarters of the empty retail square footage Downtown are in 13 buildings with 10,000 square feet or more to fill (the hardest to find tenants for).

The PDP has been providing rent abatement programs, support for short-term business pop-ups and arts-based installations to help while vacant spaces are in transition. While those are effective in filling smaller spaces, “we also need to think creatively about these larger spaces,” said Cate Irvin, senior director of economic development for the PDP, who spoke during the presentation.

Small retail spaces are currently driving much of the retail economy Downtown, she said. Eighty-one percent of new business openings since 2019 have occurred in spaces under 5,000 square feet.

“The food and beverage businesses tell the clearest story,” Irvin said. “They were the most heavily impacted by pandemic closures… but they’ve proven to be the most resilient. Since 2021, this category has consistently outpaced all others, with new openings peaking at 2022 and remaining strong through 2024.

“This signals Downtown’s continued appeal as a destination for dining and hospitality and it reinforces the value of street-level vibrancy.”

She said that traditional retail has had a “more uneven path.” There were steady closures in the early pandemic years, particularly among legacy convenience stores, pharmacies, gift shops, boutiques, but they’re now seeing a slow rebound. There have been some larger retailers with the introduction of Target and Five Below in the old Kaufmann’s Department store building on Smithfield.

Coffee shops have also shown steady growth, but service businesses, such as fitness studios and salons remain underrepresented compared to pre-pandemic levels, she said. Many of the closures during the pandemic — tailors, shoe repair shops and others — relied heavily on office workers and daily Downtown activity.

“Still, the takeaway here is that retail recovery isn’t just about one audience, it’s about creating a Downtown that functions for the many,” Irvin said.

The PDP brought in Catherine J. Timko, a consultant with The Riddle Co., to analyze the retail market. She said she looked at Downtown through a retailer’s eyes. Based on the Downtown residential population and other factors, Downtown has an unmet buying power of $110 million and that is expected to grow to $150 million by 2029, with new residential units becoming available, she said.

She said Downtown needs to be doing more proactive retail attraction to fill in the gaps in its mix of stores. And the fact that it has vacant retail buildings exceeding 10,000 square feet can be a plus, she said. Those larger spaces, for example, could attract a Nordstrom Rack, larger grocery stores and a T.J. Maxx. “That gives you the opportunity to bring in the kind of tenants that you want.”

To that end, Downtown representatives are heading to the annual conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers on May 18-20 in Las Vegas to tell Pittsburgh’s story and try to attract new retailers to the Golden Triangle.

The NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh in April 2026 gives Downtown stakeholders an additional incentive.

“We are very much interested in doing as much as we can as fast as we can to make Downtown the most vibrant and welcoming place it can be,” said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.