The Environment Is Today’s Retail Anchor

Renaissance Marketplace

The social distancing of the last few weeks have taken a toll on retailers. But once that ends, the sector will focus even more strongly on the importance of internet-resistant tenants. This include experiential retailers, like restaurants and entertainment venues, and daily needs retailers, like grocery stores and dry cleaners. But, according to Greg Lyon of Nadel Architecture + Planning, retail owners should be focused on the environment.

“The environment is the anchor in today’s retail experience,” Lyon, principal and design director at Nadel, tells GlobeSt.com. “There is always a disruptor in retail, and today it is ecommerce and online shopping. As a result, retail owners are trying to increase visitation and length-of-stay for shoppers on site. You do that be treating the environment as a place where people are going to hang out. Regardless of how retail changes, we are always going to need that place. It is part of our culture and part of our societies. As an industry, we need to be less fixated on the line-up of tenants and more focused on the environment for the community.”