May 13--It's probably safe to say that Omaha isn't landing a Nordstrom or Macy's anytime soon. But all retail leasing activity hasn't ground to a halt, just because some big-name national chains are struggling or slowing expansions.

Several real estate professionals say that in the past 30 to 60 days, local retailers are taking advantage of competitive rents and deals to expand or move, providing much-welcomed activity in the slow retail environment.

"We've seen more tenant activity in our company in the last 30 to 60 days than we've seen in the last six months," said Scott Brown, partner with Quantum Development, a retail developer of mostly strip shopping centers.

For example, two retailers are near signing leases at Monarch Place West, a 10,982-square-foot strip center that Quantum developed at the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Highway 370, or north of Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion. That would mean the new center -- completed in March -- would be 65 percent leased.

Bigwheels 2 Butterflys, a family-owned store that sells new to nearly new kids' clothing and equipment, moved from a nearby location to a larger space in Monarch Place West, Brown said. It opened March 15. A cookie shop, a startup business, plans to open Aug. 1.

He said the catalyst for the recent activity appears to be improved sales and loosened lending to local mom-and-pop stores, his company's primary tenants.

"There's now financing to these smaller tenants that wasn't there six months ago," he said.

Still, closings by national chains such as Cost Plus World Market drew greater attention in the first quarter than openings of independently owned businesses.

Jay R. Lerner, president of the Lerner Co., said it will take a while for national retailers to move forward in the Omaha market. There are two reasons, he said.

First, national retailers such as Wal-Mart or Target have opened a lot of stores in the Omaha area in the last several years, nearly saturating the local market.

Secondly, national retailers have cut back on the total number of new store openings because of the economy.

"Nationals are expanding, but Omaha doesn't make their priority list right now," Lerner said. "That doesn't mean they are saying, 'We're not coming to Omaha.' It's just those stores are put on hold."

For example, Lerner said, his firm has negotiated with four or five national "junior anchor" tenants to locate in Settler's Creek near 72nd Street and Cornhusker Road in Papillion. He declined to name them.

"Basically, we're on hold, or they're on hold, for the present time," he said.