The Amazing Evolution of the Retail World

After a long conversation about how we want to work going forward, it hit us: office culture, cooler talk, cubicles, conference rooms, Dilbert jokes, corner offices—honestly, the whole idea of a traditional office—has either evaporated or mutated beyond recognition. All of it. Swept onto the shoulder of the high-speed, tech-fueled highway we now live on, right next to landline phones, morning newspapers, and the noble art of cooking dinner every night. Offices, as we once knew them, have officially entered the “can you believe we used to…?” museum. In short: they’re toast. Or at the very least, a newly engineered, unfamiliar kind of toast. Wild.

But offices aren’t the only relics getting rebooted at warp speed. Think about cars (hello, EVs), shopping centers (vs. e-com everything), movie theaters (streaming says hi), fast fashion (make room for re-sale), dine-in (delivery domination), cabs (hi, ride-share), business travel (Zoom in), advertising (influencers everywhere), even baseball umpires (robots are warming up). It feels like the end of just about everything. 1995 might as well be ancient history.

If you dwell on it too long, you might break into a cold sweat—so don’t. But do consider this: while the world is joyriding into its next version, humans are adapting faster than ever, often without even noticing. Yet, interestingly, not everything is getting tossed into the recycling bin of nostalgia. Our research keeps flagging one standout: people still love stores. Not all stores, not all the time, and not everywhere—but enough that they’re far from done. So, hold up, “New World.” Let’s not shove physical retail under the self-driving bus just yet.

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