Instead, many consumers are now drawn to areas near warehouses that can quickly process their online orders.
âItâs shopping as infrastructure,â Adie Tomer, a Brookings Institution scholar, told The Wall Street Journal last week. The nationâs growing network of shopping sites, warehouses and delivery services now âfunction like a utility.â
Unlike colorful shopping centers, modern âneighborhood fulfillment centersâ are plain and located in industrial areas. The centers are designed to process orders quickly, often shipping items to customers in just a few hours.
The rise of these centers coincides with the decline of traditional retail. Mall vacancy rates are climbing, and many cities are razing downtown shopping centers to make way for other development.
The shopping revolution might also change lifestyles.
âGetting goods delivered to oneâs home doesnât eliminate that other part of the human experience â wanting to get out of the house to get fresh air,â Tomer said. âPeople will just exchange it. âNow that this other itch is scratched, maybe Iâll sit outside with a newspaper.ââ
Source: USPS News Link