Molson Hart

This is my vision of the future of brick-and-mortar retail: Generally, Amazon has succeeded because it is: 1. More convenient 2. Cheaper (it can store products cheaper via lower rents and greater density and now it has allowed for Chinese companies to sell direct to consumers)

This will cause the following things to happen: 1. A renaissance in businesses that are not disrupted by e-commerce (restaurants, nail salons, gyms etc.) 2. If a town has two malls, instead of both being half empty, one will shutter completely, the other consolidating.

3. The "store" will become an analog to the "phone" - an anachronism that used to mean one thing, a place where we store goods or a device we use to speak to people, that now means something totally different. Today's phones connect you to the internet.

The future's stores will not store good, but will instead just function as advertising. It's early, but for durable hardgoods, Bonobo's Guideshops and B8ta's pay to have your products in the store and sampled seem like the way forward.