How Brick & Mortar Stores Are Finding A New Identity Through Mega-Boutiques

As old-guard department stores continue to fight against decline, frantically busy retailers like Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo provide basics and sharp styles to great success. Similarly, all manner of smaller, mom-and-pop type shops now face an identity crisis of sorts as they combat e-commerce — with the competitive pricing on sites like Bonobos and Gilt — and the wide selection offered by larger mega-boutiques. Even major corporations like J.Crew suffer in the fickle market.

The combination of curation and a large selection of mega-boutiques, much like an indie bookstore, aims to provide what’s needed in one luxurious stop. These stores have become the retail destinations for tourists or cross-town consumers; they’ve also become neighborhood go-tos that require neither mall parking nor the kind of extensive web browsing and returns that threaten nationwide productivity on Thursday afternoons. Read more at Refinery 29.