For the last decade, I’ve heard the same tired narrative repeated over and over again: “Physical retail is dying.” It’s a catchy headline, sure, but if you actually work in the industry, you know it’s complete nonsense. Retail isn’t dying; it is mutating. It’s shedding its old skin and turning into something entirely different, something that blends entertainment, dining, and shopping into one cohesive experience. I remember walking the floor at my first industry conference years ago, seeing rows of standard clothing retailers and thinking the model looked stable. Fast forward to today, and that stability is gone. It has been replaced by a chaotic, exciting need for innovation. We aren’t just filling empty boxes with shelves anymore. We are curating spaces where people actually want to spend their time, not just their money. This shift requires a completely different mindset, one that values face-to-face connection and long-term forecasting over quick, transactional leases.
This is exactly why the planning cycle for major industry events has stretched out so far. In the world of commercial real estate, a two-year lead time is practically nothing. Deals take ages to mature, and relationships take even longer to build. That is why my team is already looking at our calendar and thinking about where the market will be down the road. When we start discussing our presence at MAPIC 2026, we aren’t just talking about booking a flight to Cannes. We are analyzing which trends will actually survive the next few years and which ones are just passing fads. It’s a gamble. You have to predict what consumers will care about in the future, which is incredibly difficult when the economy feels like a rollercoaster. But if you wait until the last minute to pay attention to these massive gatherings, you’re already behind. The real work happens in the quiet conversations between the noisy keynote speeches, where the actual direction of the market is decided by people who are tired of Zoom calls and desperate for human interaction.
I think the biggest mistake people make is assuming these events are just excuses to drink wine and swap business cards. Don’t get me wrong, that happens, but it’s not the point. The point is survival. The distinction between a successful development and a ghost town often comes down to understanding the nuance of “placemaking,” a term I used to hate but have come to respect. It is about creating a vibe that can’t be replicated by Amazon. Looking ahead, the players who will dominate are the ones who understand that retail is becoming a hospitality business. We have to treat shoppers like guests. It’s exhausting work, and it requires a constant pulse on the global market, but that is the only way to stay relevant. If we stop innovating, or if we stop showing up to learn from our peers, we might as well close up shop. The future belongs to the curious, and frankly, I plan on being there to see it unfold.
