Article source: ConstructConnect
ConstructConnect’s annual construction starts statistics for ‘bricks and mortar’ retail sites are set out in Graph 1. The history goes back to 2005 and the forecast portion of the chart extends to 2026.
Under intense pressure from a rapid expansion of Internet online selling sites, physical retail construction starts contracted dramatically from 2016 through 2020. Then something interesting happened.
In 2020, with the arrival on the scene of the coronavirus, and most consumers following stay-at-home directives, there was a proliferation in purchases sought out and finalized by digital means. (As a sidebar, non-store retail sales have now tripled as a share of total retail over the past 20 years, going from 6% to 18%.)
But 2020 was also the year in which bricks and mortar retail construction starts stopped falling. In 2021, they picked up slightly and in 2022, they are looking to provide another incremental increase.
