A look back at Retail Industry in 2020

Covid-19 had a significant impact on retail this past year. Many businesses had to undergo substantial changes throughout the year and hope for the best to make any profitable growth.  George Mayer and Anthony Luna  sat down to discuss and reflect on the industry in the past year and offer their insight for the coming year. 

The Retail Industry honestly had to be creative throughout 2020; restaurant owners had to adapt to strictly online customers and empty buildings besides workers. Perhaps, the most affected were those individual retail businesses that can’t function without that in-person contact, including nail salons, spas, beauty salons, and even dry cleaners.  While 2020 came with hardships , Coastline Equity tried to be there for their clients and their properties to “weather the storm.” 

Currently, e-commerce is emerging as a significant shopping platform. According to Harvard Business Review, this has left nearly 1/3 of retail stores struggling behind while businesses like  Amazon  are raising the price of shares due to the increase in profits at the end of the year.  

While 2021 is still a path of uncertainty, our leadership team at Coastline Equity offered their insight into a possibility of recovery. The way a business repositions itself will tell a lot about how it might recuperate as time progresses. An example would be the retail branch that is Big-Boxes. George Mayer states, “Big-Box Retail needs to reposition quickly once their tenants are gone” making strategic decisions such as dividing spaces to have multipurpose use will significantly influence the growth of a business. Finding that in-store/online balance is also relevant. 

Different experts are suggesting different inferences in the world of retail in 2021. Greg Petro a writer with years of experience researching economics and the retail industry at  Forbes  suggests a fast recovery of clothing and footwear retail stores. Ending on a positive note, last year may have resembled a roller coaster but it is truly a depiction of how different parts of one big industry can work together to improve the overall function.  

To hear more on George and Anthony's take on  Retail in 2021  subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch the  full playlist  where we cover all the predictions for the Real Estate Industry in 2021!