“There’s a new model in how people are looking at and buying product,” says McCrary. “We are all more accustomed to buying product online. We’re all well past the security issues and discomfort with the Internet. My prediction is that in the upcoming 12-18 months, we will see a similar shift in the food-and-beverage business whereby people will feel more comfortable buying food and beverages online. You’re going to receive everything from shoes to diapers online—why wouldn’t the grocers see that kind of growth, too?”

Some industry experts have reported that online sales of groceries have not matched those of other consumer goods because people still like to see, touch and experience these products before buying them. When GlobeSt.com spoke exclusively with Jim Lynch, the newly appointed retail practice leader/account manager of RiverRock Real Estate Group, in August, he said, “I’m not sure how successful online shopping has been for the grocery retailers, but just from watching in my own neighborhood, I don’t see those grocery-store delivery trucks very often. Shopping for groceries has remained relatively unchanged.” Still, McCrary believes this shift will come within the next couple of years.

McCrary also reports that the logistics companies are catching on to the new distribution model and are recognizing their responsibility to accommodate that need for their clients. Firms such as Kimberly Clark and Walmart are leasing fulfillment centers and hiring third-party groups to run the distribution end for them. “Manufacturers are saying, “Our core competency is finding product from a supplier, not really running the warehouse.”

Also, what were formerly traditional palletized warehouses that would ship to retail stores are now online fulfillment centers that are points of sale, necessitating a shift from the “guy running a forklift” or typical “pick-and-pack” warehouse personnel to educated logistics personnel with experience running a $20-million computer system in an air-conditioned building designed for distributing products to consumers’ homes. “The talent needs are greater, the wagers are higher, and the number of employees hired is more,” says McCrary. “The opportunity for cities to gain sales-tax revenue is greater.”

He adds that companies like Best Buy are shrinking their showrooms but leasing fulfillment centers, and cities are realizing that they’re no longer generating sales tax from a retail center but from a distribution center. “Cities are finding out that they need to re-embrace distribution centers because they’re offering a lot of economic stimulus to an immediate community. They’re a very good economic machine for a community.”