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Editor's Note: This story is part of a series about the pandemic's impact on retail in 2020, and what it means for 2021. Find the rest of the stories here.
The formula of where to locate a store involves many variables — rent, lease terms, parking, zoning, visibility — but perhaps above all is going where the people are.
The pandemic has shuffled much of that, including the tenant-landlord relationship. Even more profound is how it may have reshaped consumer habits, including where they shop and even live, for the longer term. The disease outbreak and its changes to daily life may be reversing a decade of migration into cities and ushering in a work-from-home practice that could last even after social distancing is no longer required.