December 17th 2020 15:12
The ongoing impact of Covid-19 combined with high rents and operating costs – which, this year, has often outweighed revenue – means that many retailers have been forced to rethink the role of brick-and-mortar stores.
According to McKinsey predictions, Europe is likely to see an 8 to 13% decline in offline retail sales in 2021, while the US will likely see a drop of 22 to 27% compared to 2019 levels.
Instead of considering the value of stores in the context of ‘four-wall sales’ – i.e. how much product is sold inside the store – many retailers are considering what other roles physical stores can play, and how this might translate into ROI.
By Susan Freeman2020-12-17T00:00:00+00:00
My recording studio locked down in March, so the Propertyshe podcast series continued digitally.
My aim is to capture the thoughts and aspirations of key influencers. Each guest has been an inspiration. Below are some of the highlights.
Pre-lockdown, I interviewed Dror Poleg, whose award winning book Rethinking Real Estate pinpointed key trends. Talking about a ‘tectonic shift’ he said: “Almost anything that is happening in retail I think will also happen in offices and residential.” Poleg has been in much demand to read the runes as the pandemic accelerated those changes.
Talking retail, Appear Here founder Ross Bailey told me: “People forget sometimes just how bad a lot of retail is; a lot of it is just boring.” The retail theme continued with Ellandi’s Mark Robinson, chairman of the High Streets Task Force. The self-styled ‘retail apocalypse denier’ summed up the difficulty of retail investment: “If fundamentally