E-Commerce and the End of Department Stores…

Macy’s and Sears are closing stores throughout the country (250 stores in total) as trends continue to push against traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers. While nobody suggests bricks-and-mortar will completely disappear, this is yet another step in the continuing shift away from traditional retail. Previously considered anchor tenants that drove (almost literally) shoppers to large malls, the retail landscape has shifted towards smaller, more nimble, and often e-commerce linked retail. This will have large implications on the amount of retail in the country, its distribution, and the size of parcels/spaces. From recent discussions we have been having with industry experts, it seems that a quality sort is just beginning, where size and location of retail may start to give way to quality of experience and place.