Tangible goods retail is/was ever only a part of the equation...retail services are a much bigger part: banks, fitness, aesthetics, food, food, food, liquor, weed, and other experience based products have emerged to fill the gap (escape rooms, DIY crafts, golf simulators, etc.) - there will always be a demand for most of these things.
Not sure it's on the UD wonks to do very much (unless he means developers)...seems like it's more of an issue for the free market to resolve itself. The total supply of retail space will be continually changing and re-concentrating...sometimes shrinking, sometimes growing.
I'm not sure that failing business models and increasing lease costs are actually very intertwined. If anything, the prevalence of failing businesses might actually help to slow the rate of lease increases.
|