Canada/The face of retail is changing

It's no secret that the retail industry is going through some very difficult times, and this is still the subject of much discussion and ink.

"Check out the store's website to find your size. Buying your garment online would be even better, you will receive it at home. "

These words were thrown at me by a consultant as I was calling her store to check the size of a garment. I wanted to save the garment and go buy it in a store in my city to encourage the local economy. Stunned by this telephone exchange, I would have expected her to offer me to order it in store,

This personal experience led me, as a newspaper representative, to wonder if customer service was changing like retail in these difficult times.

During the pandemic, many stores were able to survive by selling online. Retailers were hopeful that after the pandemic, consumers would come back to the stores and the workers with them. It is clear that, in the region as elsewhere, the lack of personnel is currently being felt in this sector of the economy.

Walking through the Carrefour Saint-Georges, I could see the increasing number of empty spaces that were, until a short time ago, stores. There have been closures before, during and after the pandemic. The Bizou chain has just closed all of its stores, Dulac Jewelry has closed its doors and Jean's Hair Salon will do the same on January 31.

Whether it is due to financial hardship, lack of staff or lack of business, each closure hurts the local economy in the region.

"Our biggest competitor is the web," said a few store managers who agreed to speak on the condition of confidentiality. Many stores are understaffed and it's a headache when it comes to scheduling strategies.

In an email, the Mach group, which has owned Carrefour Saint-Georges since 2022, told the newspaper: "... that its teams are in contact with several potential tenants in order to improve the center's retail offering [...]. The retail industry has been evolving for several years and continues to do so. New consumer habits were developed before and during the pandemic, but shopping in stores and malls has regained its pre-pandemic popularity and with the trends observed in 2022, we are even more convinced of this," maintains the real estate group.

As for the Saint-Georges Chamber of Commerce, it has every intention of helping merchants in the coming months. It is currently working on an action plan to stop the closure of stores.

"Yes, people are shopping online, but many still like to go to the malls. I believe that in order to survive, merchants need to be on the street and selling online. The market is changing and you have to adapt. The ideal would be to attract several store franchises to Saint-Georges so that people don't have to go shopping in Quebec City," says Annie Gilbert, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.

Place Centre-Ville Saint-Georges also has its share of vacant space from before and after the pandemic. Mall director Jean-Nil-Cloutier says he hasn't felt the impact of the change in retail as much, since he says he houses so many government and other services and few small stores. Since the pandemic, a travel agency and a Bizou chain store have closed.

What will the future of retail look like in 2023, in what appears to be a recessionary year? Only time will tell.

Source: www.leclaireurprogres.ca