Retail Evolution : A plan for the continued survival of retail

Retail Evolution A plan for the continued survival of retail Retail has long been an integral part of society, today however, it is uncertain if it has a future. I have found that vacancies of stores in central Umeå have increased during recent years. In fact, the number of stores in Sweden as a whole has been on a steady decrease since 2011. According to the Swedish Consumer Agency, the trend will continue to decrease by 50 percent before 2030. For example, the large company MQ just filed for bankruptcy and even IKEA has recently shut down its first store. The reason for this is the online shopping phenomenon. Online shopping has taken market shares in the retail landscape and the trend is here to stay which leaves the question: How can conventional retail survive? I believe the future of retail is a rejuvenated inner city in the sense of making it an including city, where both the big and the smaller companies work in unison as they are both needed. Retail needs to become attractive in order to fight increasing online shopping. For this to happen we need to make retail an experience and the stores need to solely focus customer relations and showcasing brands. Retail has to be transformed to provide small businesses the opportunity to sell their products as well as being a way for global companies to survive. This project is about creating an option, something unlike online shopping, and the big malls of today. A way to attract people back to the dying inner city. The project is called Kvarteret Höder. It is a space with a large range of locally owned stores and cafés, encouraged by low rent and some larger brands which could carry more of the rent burden. As well as an event space where live music and group training can take place. A space to make people meet again through events, and in turn make retail attractive by becoming an experience