Undergraduate Research

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Reconciling Retail
(2018) Black, Garrett
As e-commerce and superstore retail continue to overtake the market share of retail sales an increasing number of brick-and-mortar retailers will struggle to keep customers and make the most profitable use of their space. Without proper planning and foresight, many retailers will go out of business and our towns will see an increase in abandoned buildings and underutilized land. There are many exciting options for owners of retail space to repurpose buildings in order to adapt or respond to the e-commerce boom if they are willing to break from the standard retail approach and embrace uncommon ideas of space utilization, brand marketing, and customer acquisition. I will explore the circumstances leading to the current state of the retail industry, detail options available to current retailers looking to adapt to the change, and provide non-retail examples that provide for financial or community profit. I hope to provide a different approach to retail with concepts that would afford the most economic use of resources.