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Downtown Retail Takes on the Malls

Written by RetailWire Staff

Recent evidence indicates shoppers are migrating from bricks and mortar to clicks. But when shoppers want real stores with real products they can touch and feel, where do they want them to be? Debate is raging.

Laura Brown of Insight with Passion told RetailWire about a series of clinics aimed at giving retailers and local businesses a strategy to revive their towns by revitalizing the customer experience to "increase footfall and profits." Discussions between stakeholders evolve from social networking comments and mystery shopper research.

Several British papers reported on a fund launched by U.K. government adviser Mary Portas for towns with innovative suggestions on improving their centers. Also cited are Majestic Wine chairman Phil Wrigley who has declared high streets "irrelevant" and Sainsbury CEO Justin King's belief that responsibility for empty town centers lies with retailers who didn't adapt to changing demands.

"We must be brave enough to shrink the high street and allow empty shops to be converted for other uses," Mr. King suggested, specifying housing and education.

As reported by the Daily Mirror, big chains (defined in the U.K. as those with six or more stores) closed more in 2011 than they opened for the first time since 2008, according to a study of the 500 biggest town centers in the U.K. by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Local Data Company.

In the U.S., it is malls that are struggling. Stephanie Clifford writes in The New York Times that "many malls across the country" are taking drastic steps to make empty space more enticing. Cleveland's Galleria contains a vegetable garden while "schools, medical clinics, call centers, government offices and even churches are now standard tenants. ... Other malls have added aquariums, casinos and car showrooms." Seattle is adding transit and trying to increase jobs and living space on one site, restoring a creek previously covered by a parking lot.

Patrick Phillips, chief executive of the Urban Land Institute, says there are more malls than needed nowadays and "it can have a blighting influence on communities." Giant parking lots are often superfluous as public transportation improves. In both countries, some shopping spaces are now being considered for housing, complete with parks and putting greens.

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