Big Box Retail: An Obituary

Scattered reports are beginning to trickle in regarding the death of the much-maligned ‘Big Box’ retail outlet. Born in the middle of the twentieth century in picturesque suburban America, Big Box has finally succumbed, at age 52, to the pressures of online retailing and an escalating recentralization of our urban centers sparked by an ironic, yet inevitable, exurban exodus. The retail giant died peacefully, surrounded at its bedside by CEOs of the fellow Fortune 500, for many of whom the loss hits uncomfortably close to home. Big Box is survived by its mother, Small Local Specialized Retailer; father, Medium-Sized Yet Not Megalomaniacal General Merchandiser; and glowing younger sister, Online Retail.

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The Art & Science of Shopping: Rebel against Sameness

I’ve been on a bit of a road trip lately – six countries in eight weeks. I’m exhausted, but what made me weary more than the travel itself was the amount of sameness I was saw everywhere along the way. From Singapore to Uruguay, with stops in London, Germany, Dubai, and Argentina along the way, I encountered an astonishing, not to mention disappointing, level of sameness.

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The Permanence of Pop-Ups

A major movement rooted in the retail sector is the rise and fall of Pop-Up Shops: temporary spaces built strategically and creatively from concept to design, but not built to last. It's an experiential shopping environment on steroids with the intrigue of being in the most unexpected places, the exclusivity of being the privileged in-the-know and the compulsion to get there before it’s all gone. With a DIY aesthetic, a makeshift mentality and the flexibility of not being tied down to long-term leases, it may seem like a relatively quick fix, but this impromptu environment is no one-time-wonder. I’m quite convinced that what started as a lasting trend is shaping up to be a permanent fixture on the retail landscape and something that traditional retail shops can learn a few lessons from.

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Retail’s Evolution

As technology and online shopping continue to pile pressure on bricks and mortar retail, those who don’t adapt, remain relevant and offer an engaging experience are being forced to shut up shop. It’s a trend that can be seen the world over and there’s no love lost on the brands that fail. Consumers are a fickle species.

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Drawing on the World: Retail in India

Recently my colleagues Alison Carr, Smita Gupta and I accompanied our retail client, ColorPlus, and our local architect partner on a whirlwind tour of retail centers and historic sites in four major cities of India, allowing our team to get a good sense of the local flavor and the current state of the global retail scene in this country of 1.2 billion.

That number is staggering when you think about it, and it’s growing rapidly. In fact, this trip actually brought back many memories of previous retail research trips to Bangkok, Thailand, in 1995, and to India in 1997. On those trips it was striking that there were plenty of malls and shopping centers in Thailand, and yet none in India. Fast forward to 2012, though, and India has already changed dramatically with even more construction everywhere. International brands have established footholds in India’s major cities, and they do seem to have a strong appeal for the growing class of customers with money to spend on foreign goods. There are no signs of slowing down, and naturally the pace of our own tour was quick.

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