This Changes Everything #16: The New "Experience" of Shopping

The pandemic has changed the concept of physical stores – do we still need them, what’s their purpose now, and how should they change to stay relevant? And what about the stuff we buy – do we need to have the same things we bought before the pandemic, and do we still need to shop for so much of it? We talk with two retail experts about how the coronavirus has shaken up the industry, how our consumer spending habits are shifting, and what shopping will look like in the future. GUESTS * David Fishbein, co-founder of the Runyon Group, a real-estate development firm in Los Angeles that owns, creates and manages new types of shopping hubs (https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/is-la-platform-the-future-of-retail) * Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association (https://calretailers.com) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 4:55 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and this episode * 4;55 min - Notable turns, twists and trends in shopping and retail since the pandemic shutdowns began * 11:25 min - How stores will look different in this new experiential type of shopping * 17:40 min - How Amazon -- and everyone buying all their stuff online -- are threatening brick-and-mortar shopping * 22:50 min - How consumer tastes and trends -- especially those of younger people - are changing what's in and out of style with shopping * 28:20 - Will shopping malls stick around? And will we still go shopping in our downtowns?