Stephen Yalof, CEO of Tanger (NYSE:SKT | SKT Price Prediction), a retail REIT that owns and operates outlet shopping centers across the U.S., delivered an on-the-ground read of the U.S. shopper on a recent CNBC appearance, telling viewers that consumers have kept coming back to Tanger’s shopping centers since the beginning of the year. CEO Yalof says that despite anticipated headwinds from rising, sticky inflation, the company is seeing traffic up and sales up across its outlet portfolio. His commentary offers a window into a roughly 38-center outlet REIT concentrated in secondary and Southeastern markets rather than major coastal cities.
What Yalof Is Seeing in the Outlet Channel
According to Yalof, today’s shopper wants entertainment and food experiences in addition to shopping, which is why Tanger has been reframing its centers as lifestyle destinations rather than pure discount stops. He flagged Gen Z as a standout segment that wants to shop in physical environments, touch products, and shop in groups, summarizing the behavior as “shopping is entertainment again.”
Yalof also said Tanger is borrowing a lesson from the full-price retail world: consumers “might come for food but stay for shopping,” driving cross-shopping across tenants. On brand traction, he pointed to a value-and-trade-down dynamic, with names like Coach and Ralph Lauren resonating with younger shoppers in the outlet channel.
The Numbers Behind the Commentary
Tanger’s own first-quarter results offer a quantitative backdrop for the CEO’s optimism. The company reported Core FFO of $0.59 per share, up 11% from the prior year, with occupancy ending the quarter at 97%, up 120 basis points year-over-year, and sales productivity of $482 per square foot on a trailing 12-month basis. Revenue came in at $150.42M, ahead of a $143.65M estimate, while net income rose 53.21% year over year to $29.4M. Leasing activity hit record levels with 651 leases totaling 3.4 million square feet over the last 12 months and blended rent spreads of 10.5%.
Yalof paired that with a capital-return signal, noting a 7% increase in the dividend supported by earnings growth and conservative payout ratios. Tanger now carries a dividend yield near 2.97% and trades at roughly 38x trailing earnings, with a $4.66B market cap.
Retail Sales Data Confirms These Trends
Independent data partially confirms these trends. U.S. retail sales have climbed five months in a row, from $734,503M in January 2026 to $763,705M in May 2026, the highest reading in the 12-month series. BEA personal consumption expenditures also stepped up each month of 2026, reaching $22,059.8B in May 2026, with recreation and food services spending both higher year over year.
Sentiment tells a different story. The University of Michigan index sat at 49.8 in April 2026, down 6.6% from a month earlier, deep in what the survey treats as recessionary territory. That gap between how consumers feel and what they spend is the key tension Yalof’s commentary speaks to.
What to Watch
Yalof’s comments reinforce a theme that has puzzled investors throughout 2026: consumers continue to spend even as surveys suggest they’re becoming more pessimistic. Tanger’s rising traffic at outlet locations, higher sales, record leasing activity, and increased guidance all point to continued resilience in discretionary retail, particularly among value-oriented shoppers.
Whether that strength persists will become clearer over the second half of the year. Investors might get more insights over time from holiday-season traffic, tenant sales productivity, occupancy trends, and whether inflation or tariffs begin to meaningfully pressure consumer spending.
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