Turn back the hands of time just a few short months and it’s breathtaking how much has changed. I was just thinking back to my vision board for the new year and everything I was excited to do. I had a vacation to Europe planned for May. I had big plans to spend lots of time with my new grandson who lives in Chicago. I was super excited to have a fine, small business that was humming along. I felt blessed. My vision was clear. I could not wait to get this year started.

Every day it becomes clearer that COVID-19 is not diminishing during the summer as we hoped, and that fact is having a devastating impact on our attempts to reopen our economy.  California is seeing the third largest summer spike behind only Florida and Texas, which is particularly troubling because Governor Newsom and his health advisers articulated such a careful approach to reopening.  No one is quite sure the exact reason California is struggling, but one key factor is community refusal to wear masks.

As retail begins to open up and we look into going out to dinner again, do we feel safe? Do we want to mask up in the heat of summer and stand in line to wait for a chance to snoop around Marshall’s, Trader Joes, T.J. Maxx and Nordstrom? I don’t think most of us are looking forward to the “new normal”. I know I have not been to one store I have to wait in line to enjoy. It is scary to think this is the new normal.

I’ve been around the retail block a few times.  I have worked as a marketing director for 8 years, and opened my own retail consulting business, Creative Marketing Arts, 25 years ago.  But one thing is clear to me as we emerge into a “new normal” for the retail industry: all of us old retail dogs are going to have to learn some new tricks.  I think this is especially true for super-regional shopping centers.

It is an old-fashioned street fight between landlord and merchants.  Feuding between them is at a fever pitch.  The world of retail changed forever in April when our retailers started telling their landlords they could not pay rent because COVID 19 forced them to shut down; landlords, however, have to pay their debt services. While I navigate this dilemma at our marketing agency, I hear horror stories from both sides.  As I see it nobody wins this war…