Billings developer bullish on retail rebound
By:
Jay Kohn
and last updated 2021-05-04 16:00:24-04
BILLINGS - One year after the coronavirus pandemic delivered a major blow to the Billings business scene, local retail developer Steve Corning says surprisingly the world of retail is back in a big way.
While some retailers reported record sales, for others it was survival of the fittest. Corning told MTN News that nothing compares to April, May, and June of last year, a stretch he refers to as the hardest three months of his 40-year career.
"It was a retail crisis of unmitigated proportions," said Corning. "I had seen over the course of my career, one or two bankruptcies filed and you would lose 30 or 35-thousand square feet. That's certainly a lot of square footage, and it gets your attention, but I had never seen such an across-the-board wholesale retail slaughter."