Having recently attended eCommerce, Internet Retail and Digital Transformation Expos it's a reality that significantly more business and retail sales will be done on line in much the same way as knowledge workers will continue with hybrid working rather than spend a couple of hours every day sitting - or more likely - strap hanging on a train, or crawling along in a traffic jam. Those of us in the baby boomer generation might find it hard to accept the change but younger people - Millennials, Gen A - want something different out of life. (Perhaps some want to be XR, IB, JSO, etc protesters although they aren't just younger people.)The fact is retailers will have to review how much floor space they can continue to devote to in-store sales of certain lines, such as clothes. Landlords and councils will need to review use of units in high streets. It would seem sensible there should be a growth in hospitality (from coffee shops and cafes to pubs and restaurants) with more time spent working from home and perhaps spending time meeting friends when they might otherwise have been commuting? (Or perhaps the way benefits could be heading more space for food banks and soup kitchens:) )There could be scope for more specialist retailers but not if landlords are unrealistic about rents, and current economic issues - interest rates, energy costs, labour shortages raising wages, etc - are going to increase pressures on retail businesses. Not sure what the answer is but isn't the first stage to look at the problem and the reality of the situation? Perhaps a first step would be legislation to encourage the temporary use of premises for pop up businesses, charities, etc?
Michael Ixer ● 1205d