Calgary Retail Market Report – Q1 2023
Due to the massive increase in the number of employees working from home over the last 3 years, there has been a reassessment of the value of neighborhood retail to a community, and in our case, to investors. Being home more often, consumers found they prefer to shop locally more often and wanted bigger brands to come to them. A philosophy equivalent to de-malling of the bigger brands. Not going so far as to say malls are dead. Good malls aren’t dead. Studies show the preferred place to shop is right in consumers’ backyards, at neighborhood retail, as in the days before the mall. Thanks to technological advancements, we can and should have, really great modern retail that we will gladly walk to.
Even as we watched the meteoric rise in the amount of online shopping, a vast majority of those customers still prefer to come into a physical store before buying online. Enhancing the in-store experience has never been more important.
Contact Blair Best for more information and intel on the Calgary retail market.