The Shape of Post-Covid Retail

The fate of the urban environment itself, along with the restaurants and retail that it comprises, will depend upon government interventions at every scale. Without sufficient aid to individuals and small businesses (and even with that aid, to a lesser degree), widespread closures will create a void in commercial real estate demand. Urban brick-and... See more

So, in a strange way, this version of the retail store of the future will actually take us back to the past, when shopping was something we did locally, in our own communities.

We are entering a new evolutionary stage of retail, in which big companies will get bigger, many mom-and-pop dreams will burst, chains will proliferate and flatten the idiosyncrasies of many neighborhoods, more economic activity will flow into e-commerce, and restaurants will undergo a transformation unlike anything the industry has experienced sin... See more

These shifts are also likely to change how people work and shop far into the future and accelerate the pace of changes already underway.