While many retailers are closing shop, grocers in Salt Lake County are expanding. National grocers such as Wal-Mart and Kroger, which owns Smith's Food & Drug, added new locations. Boise-based WinCo Foods Inc. has announced it is entering Utah, starting with a 90,000-square-foot store in the West Valley Pavilion at 2700 S. 5600 West.

But with the recession, consumers are spending less money because they do not know if they will have their jobs in the near future. Tate said that although the retail vacancy rate is lower in Utah than other states, construction will continue to stagnate in 2009.

"We have seen, honestly in this market, some churches take retail spaces," Tate said. "Some charter schools take retail spaces, even some office users. Maybe it's not as prevalent in other places. If you go to Houston, Texas, you have a church in every strip mall."

Salt Lake County landlords will have to get creative to attract tenants in 2009, Tate said, and they won't all be retail tenants.

Jobs in real estate may be affected, too. Tate didn't know of any layoffs at commercial brokerage firms in Salt Lake County in 2008, but said that all firms will examine expenses closely.

"For real estate agents and brokers, as things slow down, it becomes challenging, obviously," Tate said. "We make all our money with transaction, so fewer transactions means less money."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com