The consumer has never had more options. It's not unusual for someone to do their grocery shopping at three different outlets now, with a stop at Trader Joe's, maybe one at Whole Foods or some high-end regional chain and then another at a traditional supermarket or Target or Walmart.

Sharron King, a general manager at Primestor Development and GlobeSt.com partner through the month around RECon gives her take:

"Shoppers have so many choices. They are vigilant about finding the best deals, the best service, the best product knowledge that they’re looking for. Whether it’s going to buy a new smartphone or whatever, they’re looking for the best deals, they’re looking for the best service, and they’re looking for a retailer that has extensive knowledge about the product they’re looking to purchase. Retailers that are not prepared to meet those details oftentimes suffer in this market. When I was a kid, people were not walking around with smartphones, making on-the-spot comparison pricing, or reading Yelp reviews to determine where they were going to have dinner. It’s a brave new shopping world we’re living in right now."