Although the majority of retail stores will keep their mall locations, retailers are slowly moving to Main Street as a way to diversify their storefronts, according to a new National Retail Federation (NRF) study.

The survey, conducted by the advisory firm AMR Research and released Friday, polled 43 retail real estate executives, discovering that 11 percent of retailers plan to have their stores in urban street-front locations by the end of year, compared to eight percent who had the same plan last year. The slight increase is accompanied by a dip in the number of retailers choosing mall and strip mall locations (44 percent this year versus 48 percent last year). The survey also found that retailers are continuing to move toward lifestyle centers, with nine percent of company stores choosing to do business in that format compared with eight percent last year.

"Urban storefronts are beginning to play an increasingly important role in retailers' real estate strategies," said Carleen Kohut, NRF chief financial officer and the manager of NRF's real estate executives council in a media release. "Throughout the country, traditional main streets are being revitalized to include an assortment of new retail shops, from department and clothing stores to coffee shops."

In determining store location, four out of five retail real estate executives say demographic information is the most critical, the survey said. Other crucial factors include evaluating competitive information (51 percent), traffic patterns (49 percent) and geographic factors like the existing and future population (49 percent).

The survey also revealed that 24 percent of retail respondents take more than six months to sign a contract once they have settled on a site. Additionally, those polled said they usually screen 10 potential sites before approving one. Only 36 percent of stores are owned, while 64 percent are leased.

Once a contract is signed, retailers said it takes roughly three to six months to move in if the store is part of a remodel or new construction. Ground-up projects usually take twice as long, with most retailers saying the projects take more than one year.

The survey also revealed a shift in technology used for the real estate lifecycle. For example, instead of software applications like Microsoft Excel, specific technologies are used instead to help manage the process. Real estate software has doubled in sales growth, with 42 percent of retailers using these applications.

"Retailers dedicate a tremendous amount of resources to identify, and ultimately operate, their stores in prime locations," said Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail strategies at AMR Research in a media release. "As retailers are faced with increasingly complex accounting procedures, competitive environments, and nationwide store management, they are turning to software as a solution to help them manage each stage of the real estate process more efficiently."

The 2007 NRF Retail Real Estate study will be released in its entirety at NRF's Annual Convention, slated to be held Jan. 13-16 in New York City.