For brick and mortar retailers in the Boston area, itâs boom or bust, depending on where you look
By Janelle Nanos Globe Staff,Updated January 23, 2021, 2:50 p.m.
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A shuttered store opposite the empty Lord & Taylor department store on Boylston Street.Lane Turner/Globe Staff
Legions of Bostonâs office workers left town when the pandemic broke out. When they return, theyâll find its streetscapes profoundly transformed.
Wander the cityâs corridors of commerce and youâll witness darkened storefronts and shuttered restaurants. These are the casualties of a pandemic that has hit the retail world unevenly. A tour of the regionâs shopping hubs offers a complex look at street life now that holiday shoppers have retreated, with one new reality starkly clear: Urban shopping districts are in dire shape right now, while the situation is more nuanced in the suburbs.