Retail

Borders' Bankruptcy Means Opportunity for Independent Bookstores--But Where?

With hundreds of former Borders locations vacated comes the question of what to do with the spaces. They are generally just too large and expensive for other booksellers, writes Susan Stellin, though at least one landlord has made it work.

September 29, 2011 - New York Times

Toronto Debates Need for Waterfront Mega-Mall

Some say that there is simply not enough retail in existence now; versus U.S. cities, at least, Toronto has fewer malls in both numbers and square footage. Dana Flavelle explores why that might not necessarily mean it's underserved.

September 21, 2011 - Toronto Star

Why You See So Many Walgreens, Rite-Aids and Duane Reades

Net lease investors see drugstores as solid, no-nonsense investments, and with an unstable market that's music to an investor's ears.

September 4, 2011 - Retail Traffic Magazine

Parking Location Makes All the Difference

The location of parked cars can either destroy walkability or enhance it, writes urbanist Steve Mouzon.

August 5, 2011 - The Original Green Blog

Borders’ Demise Could Open New Chapter In Urban Retail

To its minimal credit, Borders Books & Music always had a a few shelves where the works of Jacobs, Mumford, Kunstler, Whyte, Florida, and others resided.  But, judging by the financial and aesthetic bankruptcies of, respectively, Borders and many American cities, it seems that copies of Life and Death (or anything else) weren't exactly flying out the door. If the public's understanding of urban economies even began to rival its fascination for gossip, self-help, and vampires, Borders never would have arisen in the first place.

July 20, 2011 - Josh Stephens

Main Street Revitalization Efforts Turn a Corner

Having lured its first major retailer on Main Street, revitalization efforts in Columbia, South Carolina's urban corridor seem to be finally paying off.

May 26, 2011 - The State

Food Trends

A comment I hear frequently from planners is that the focus on food and planning is “trendy”. I must admit that this puzzles me quite a bit. Professional planners in rural areas have concentrated on planning for agriculture – food planning – for decades. Before we had professional planners, human populations planned their communities around food, whether they were planning how best to follow herds for hunting, structuring early agricultural societies, or developing the first cities where food proximity and trade were central considerations. 

May 20, 2011 - Lisa Feldstein

Hong Kong's Unique and Vibrant Retail

Retail shopping in Hong Kong is a diverse experience of density, hidden storefronts and extreme visual stimulation, as this tour of the city's shopping areas shows.

May 16, 2011 - Metropolis

Data Shows Internet Not Ruining Bricks-and-Mortar Retail

Counter-intuitively, Natl. Real Estate Investor says that sales in physical stores is supported by increases in broadband, and therefore the internet seems to enhance retail sales in shops.

May 3, 2011 - National Real Estate Investor

Building a Temporary Retail Center on Vacant Land

A new project is opening in San Francisco that utilizes a vacant piece of land for a temporary retail installation using shipping containers.

April 24, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

WalMart and Target: Your New Neighbors

Who ever heard of "small-box stores"? Retail experts say the Walmarts and Targets of the world should have great success with smaller stores in urban settings.

March 31, 2011 - Retail Traffic Magazine

Making Retail Work in TODs

Built around a BART station in 1999, Oakland, California's Fruitvale Village has had a tough time keeping its retail space alive (as have many TODs). The property managers have learned some lessons over the years about how to overcome the challenges.

March 23, 2011 - New Urban Network

Outlets Invade Canada

Developers are planning a push into the Great White North with an (until now) distinctly American product - the outlet center.

February 4, 2011 - Retail Traffic Magazine

"Buy Local" Campaigns Making a Difference

A national survey of independent businesses found that those in communities with an active "buy local" campaign experienced significantly stronger revenue growth in 2010 compared to those located in areas without one.

February 1, 2011 - New Rules Project

Mega-Retailer Revives Effort to Move Into New York City

Wal-Mart has started a major public relations effort to try to get the public behind plans to open several of its big box retail stores in New York City.

January 11, 2011 - The New York Times

Big Boxes Going Urban

Big box retailers are continuing to target urban markets, and finding new ways to squeeze their large sizes into dense urban settings.

December 23, 2010 - NPR

Invasion of the Chain Stores

As chain stores move into a Brooklyn neighborhood, some locals worry about the loss of local character and small businesses.

November 13, 2010 - The New York Times

Grocers Succeeding in Low-Income Areas

The Save-a-Lot grocery chain has succeeded by going into urban and rural low-income areas that other chains have shied away from.

September 23, 2010 - Retail Traffic Magazine

Wal-Mart Light: Big Box Store Goes After the Urban Market

Wal-Mart announced a new "urban strategy" to move into cities that have traditionally been hostile to the big box retailer. Smaller format stores will concentrate on selling groceries, which account for about half the company's sales already.

September 23, 2010 - American Banking & Market News

The New and Familiar

New restaurants are striving to look like (and to be) community institutions, reflecting old-style pubs, meeting halls and marketplaces.

August 25, 2010 - Metropolis Magazine

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.