RTKL, one of the largest design, planning, and architecture firms in the world, has compiled the following outlook of retail design and development trends to look for in 2004:
- Big Box for the Big City. Home Depot will open a Manhattan store by summer 2004 and is targeting additional densely populated urban areas. Wal-Mart and Target are following the move to urban locales to reach new customers.
- Rethinking the Box. With higher rents and less space in major cities, retailers will be challenged to re-think their merchandise strategies and formats. This will lead to stores reinventing themselves as they experiment with their formats and test different approaches to merchandising.
- Bring the Town to the Store. Second- and third-tier cities like Lincoln, Neb., and Brea, Calif., will become leading retail innovators as they seek out commercial development to support their growing residential populations and build their tax base.
- Smaller & Smarter. Learning from the missteps of their larger cousins, these second-tier cities will avoid strip centers and malls in favor of developing Main Street-oriented environments. These projects will be more natural and organic, and incorporate things like community centers, libraries, museums, farmers markets, and other civic spaces to build community and customer traffic into the design.
- The Death of the Outlet Mall. Expect fewer outlet malls as a reaction to overbuilding during the last decade and the continued decrease in clothing sales.
