From air travel to restaurants and mom-and-pop shops, businesses relying heavily on the in-person customer connection have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Shopping malls are no exception. Retail futurist Doug Stephens ends an interview trying to sound positive about the retail industry.
But he acknowledges it’s not easy to be upbeat. “We could be facing a retail refugee crisis,” said Stephens, who founded and runs the consulting firm Retail Prophet.
He describes monumental changes ahead for Canada’s retailers and their employees, especially those located in large and medium-size shopping malls across the country.