Store Traffic Declines Are Shaking Up The Shopping Experience

Years ago, an editor told me about the day computers replaced typewriters at Fairchild Publications’ storied old Greenwich Village newsroom in New York City. The newfound silence was deafening. Although lighter shopper footfall has yet to hush the corridors of the nation’s malls, bit by bit, traffic declines are poised to change the sights and sounds of stores and shopping centers around the country. Retail’s big traffic problem loomed as the underlying theme during the most recent spate of earnings calls, shadowing discussions by merchants ranging from Macy’s and the Gap to The Limited. At a retail conference this spring, John Hazen, senior vice president of direct-to-consumer and omnichannel for denim retailer True Religion, addressed the elephant in the room head on, asking a crowd of his industry peers: “Is anybody not seeing large traffic declines?” Read more at Forbes.