The Great Retail Metamorphosis: How Americans Shop is How Americans Live (Metro Atlanta Case Study)

Abstract

This paper will address factors to guide decision makers in anticipating future retail space demand and how this shift will affect the networks of cities and their associated suburbs. By focusing on Metro Atlanta and examining retail through a social, business, economic development lens, a literature review of retail location theory will be discussed. Then, a brief history of malls in the United States will and e-commerce behavior be overviewed. After that, the paper will then focus on Metro Atlanta to understand the current supply and market trends of malls and changing retail market, in terms of e-commerce businesses growth in Metro Atlanta. From there, the current supply and market and consumer data sources, specifically sales volume and employment data from 2012-2017, will be analyzed and applied to metro Atlanta to understand the health of regional malls and shopping centers. Lastly, the data limitations and implications for further research will be highlighted