Commercial retail is dead, right? We’ve heard that for years and there is no doubt it has fallen from its highs 20-25 years ago. On line buying has dug into sales for brick and mortar stores more and more each year.
The Pandemic, however, may have added a whole new layer. Us older folks, the Boomers, have largely been afraid to buy things on the internet, preferring to touch and feel our clothes, food, stuff. Then we were told this virus was more likely to kill us than anyone else, so, we stayed home. But we still needed stuff.
Our daughters or granddaughters, mostly, taught us how to buy the things we needed from the relative safety of our computers. We received those items at our doorsteps. The quality was generally solid. We could return things we didn’t want for free, and our daughters taught us how to do that as well. The uncertainty for an entire generation of historically resistant on-line purchasers has been lifted.
So, the Pandemic will end, and probably fairly soon. As it’s run its course, we’ve found our favorite on-line stores for a whole host of items, from clothing to housewares to decorations to hardware, seeds, plants and even food. I put together an entire basement build-out on Home Depot’s on-line site and had it all delivered to my home. Wood, paint, tools, the works. My wife receives a package or two a week. Neither of us would have done either prior to the Pandemic. Our friends share websites and on-line stores they like with her and she with them. It’s a thing.
Will the demise of commercial retail real estate be accelerated by this Pandemic? Probably, but shopping is still a social experience, so it won’t disappear completely. The strongest malls will like survive for a while. Quaint local shops will be visited, but even they’re on Etsy now. Restaurants will return. Marijuana and related products will help until legalized nationally, which will happen. Much smaller show-room style shops will continue to pop up, existing only to facilitate on-line sales.
How will building owners respond? How about banks? Most of the retailers are already heavily involved in on-line sales. The manufacturers are as well. They should all be fine, though new competition is fierce.
Photo 182668450 © Michael Vi – Dreamstime.com
