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AGFUO-Public comments provided to the Planning Commission for the July 28, 2021, meeting
<br /> McNellis Partners I A Vaccine for Retail? http://mcnellis.com/news/article/a-vaccine-for-retail
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<br /> A Vaccine` for Retail?
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<br /> Retail has the virus.Just as with people,differerk retailers are reactng to this Infection very differently.Ailing merchants with comorbidities
<br /> are,suffering—or dying—wniie those without long-term illnesses are asymptomatic,even healthy.
<br /> Excess capacity—too many stores—has been American retail's primary chronic condition for decades.In 2017,Forbes noted,'Since
<br /> 1995,the number of shopping centers In the U.S.has grown by more than 23%aid the total gross leasable area by almost 30%,while the
<br /> population has grown by less than 14%."According to Forbes,America has roughly 50 square feet of retail space per capita while Europe
<br /> has Just 2.5 square feet.We have too many retailers selling the same—let's call It stuff—In every city In the country.
<br /> Where are we today?First,those retailers thatyou thought died years ago—notably,Sears,J.C.Penney and Kmart—will finally give up
<br /> the ghost.Then,others with bad management or too much'debt or overwhelming competition will also disappear,
<br /> As a result,every city in the country will he corrronted with dying malls and vacancy-packed shopping districts.As tills recession grinds on
<br /> over the next several years,retail's pulse will falter.Is there a cure?No.The falling retailers were already on their way to the morgue;the
<br /> virus merely hastened their demise.Is there a vaccine that will help?Yes,and not to flog the medical metaphor,but there Is a cocktail of civic
<br /> remedies toot,If Implemented,would help stabilize retail.
<br /> "First,do no harm'is a catchy medical phrase that should serve as a shibboleth for planners and city councils.In this context it means stop
<br /> zoning more retail.The last thing struggling merchants need is more competition.And,given the headwinds,it would be optimistic to
<br /> assume that retail will return any brne soon,if ever,to even a zero-surn game(that Is,vacancies offset by new tenants).Cities zoning more
<br /> retail are in danger of creating Instant blight,storefronts that will never fill.To get healthy,retail needs to shrink to a sustainable size—
<br /> somewhere between us and Europe's size zero—then stabilrze.
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<br /> Distributed to City Council for the September 7, 2021, meeting Page 18
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