Malls, Mallrats and Browsing

Briarwood Mall, Michigan (1970s - via Malls of America)

Doug Stephens wrote a powerful piece on how 'to save retail, let it die'. In it, he lists all the ways in which retail is doomed (hi, Amazon!) on his way to a, more-or-less, familiar conclusion: retail spaces need to become experiences.

Stephens posits that the future retail spaces aren't about buying products at all, but about:

gathering data selling experiences that involve the products

Imagine, I suppose, the LEGO store, but solel...