Is BIG BOX dead?

Yes, I’m going to use some science to explain our current real estate market. “Matter is neither created nor destroyed” as  the Law of Conservation of Mass describes, and this works for our real estate space as well.

Let me explain, in one sector (retail) we see attrition from the larger size facilities. However, in another sector (industrial) we see a massive growth. Call me a dork, but I think this is a perfect application of science to our industry.

This is a great article / example that I think points out the retail perspective:

Link

If we look at the new site for Amazon in Aurora Colorado, it’s easy to recognize the 1 million square foot facility (yes, 1M SQFT) of industrial space has a significant impact from the entire real estate ecosystem. The fact that they are touting the attempt to hire over 1,000 employees, one can only imagine the impact this has economically to areas like housing and retail.

This is an interesting video of how this type of site continues to operate and advance its distribution model:

Link – robots change real estate

So, my thought is that some retailers have augmented / adapted their offerings which are easily seen in the brick and mortar. I think this highlights, those that adapt quickly, win, and we in the real estate industry can learn from this when we talk industry segmentation.