NEW YORK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- After years of worrying that e-commerce would decimate bricks-and-mortar stores, U.S. retail landlords now say the sector is stronger and more insulated from online competitors than even a few years ago, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Monday.
"A sharp slowdown in retail construction is driving vacancy to near-record lows. While Americans stayed home during the height of the pandemic, they flocked back to stores and restaurants as infection concerns faded," said the report.
"E-commerce was thought of as this existential threat," said Jahan Moslehi, chief executive of the real-estate investment firm Bridge33 Capital, which has spent 574 million U.S. dollars acquiring 13 shopping centers this year. "In the past few years, we've seen this resilience of bricks-and-mortar retail."
Retailers are figuring out how to adapt to e-commerce's continued growth. The most successful offer their customers experiences that they can't find online, such as indoor rock climbing and eyebrow waxing, and make it easy for customers to buy from them both in-person and online, according to the report.
Discount chains are among the fastest-expanding retailers in the United States, and most retailers have learned from trial and error that integrating the online and in-person shopping experiences is crucial to survival, it added. ■