The growth of online retailing has led to a shift in the world of brick-and-mortar retail: Behold the incredible shrinking big-box store.
Retailers like Best Buy are downsizing stores in the face of declining customer traffic. They might find new opportunities and eager shoppers in urban spaces where they once could not fit.
According to an article in the current issue of Realtor magazine, discount giant Walmart is shrinking the footprint of its Supercenters from 180,000 square feet on average to a mere 105,000. At the same time, the retailer is experimenting with an even smaller store: the “Walmart Express” concept features stores averaging 10,000 to 15,000 square feet in size. This past summer, struggling electronics retailer Best Buy Co. announced plans to shrink the size of its stores and sublet excess space to other non-competing retailers while expanding a new chain of smaller stores specializing in profitable mobile devices. Here in Philadelphia, office-superstore chain Staples has already announced plans to consolidate its two Center City stores into one smaller location at 15th and Chestnut in keeping with this trend – in turn opening the way for off-price retailer Marshalls to enter the urban core for the first time.
These moves, made in response to a growing propensity for customers to use physical stores as “showrooms” where they can try out merchandise before buying online, could bring with it an unexpected side benefit: a return of a truly diverse retail mix to America’s big-city shopping districts.
Old-timers may recall a time when 15,000 square feet was big for a supermarket, and in Manhattan, it probably still is. Specialty chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s don’t need much more space for their stores, which can already be found in a number of in-city locations, including three in Center City Philadelphia. A Wal-Mart Express would likely find ready patronage in similar locations – and parking would not be such a necessity.
The kinds of retailers that might sublet from Best Buy have stores that also fit well in urban settings, such as Sephora, also found in Center City. And a smaller Best Buy might work better at a site such as 16th and Vine, where a developer had envisioned such a store a few years back.
The shrinking of brick-and-mortar retail stores may be a sign of trouble for large-format retail, but it’s an opportunity for cities to capture more shoppers. All that’s required for this to happen are developers willing to bet on urban shoppers and city governments smoothing the way for redevelopment of vacant retail real estate.
–By Sandy Smith
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons
