Navigating the Urban Tapestry
By Christopher McCarthy
Did the city curate the retail or the retail the city?
The era of office workers dutifully adhering to employer demands has waned. Instead, these upper-class workers wield influence, compelling companies to adapt to their preferences. The consequence? Central business districts are losing their predictable daytime populations, reshaping retail staffing needs, and influencing location choices for retailers and service providers.
In response to this paradigm shift, retailers adapt and return to small-format stores and more nuanced location choices. Employers seek attractive communities for their staff, distinct from the work-centric realm of traditional office and industrial times where staff punched in and out on a regular work shift.
Traditionally, economic development councils focused on the office and industrial sectors as the bedrock of job creation. However, in a landscape where AI and robotics assume repetitive or hazardous tasks, what captures human interest is the essence of the community, its stores, attractions, and the promise of adventure. The pivotal question arises: is your community oriented towards robotics or people?
Retail site selection has typically been operating on statistical models tied to a minimum population and density; retail faces challenges in proving its economic viability as day and night populations with their associated commutes change. Yet, within this conundrum lies a rich discussion. With thorough research and collaborative partnerships, businesses can survive and thrive in statistically improbable locations.
So, is your city shaping its future, focusing on robotics or a human approach? The journey to decode these threads of the urban retail tapestry is an ongoing exploration of the retail ecosystem.