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Melting Ice Cube

Online commerce is only in the second inning of a sea change that will materially, and forever, change retailing.

By Anthony LoPinto | Updated on January 21, 2014

No doubt about it, brick and mortar retailing is slowly but surely going the way of the glaciers, slowly melting. Highlighting the importance of the trend, the Wall Street Journal recently dedicated a front page feature to the big story of the holiday season; shoppers are significantly reducing their visits to the mall.

The evidence is clear. According to ShopperTrak, retailers enjoyed only half of the holiday traffic in 2013 as they did just three years earlier. Major retailers, such as Macy’s who announced the closing of five stores, and big box players led by BestBuy, are retrenching and retooling. The net, net is clear, online commerce is only in the second inning of a sea change that will materially, and forever, change retailing, and along with it, the brick and mortar investment strategies of real estate owner/developers of retail real estate.

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