There has been a lot of talk lately about the shopping landscape and how it’s drastically changing, especially here in Regina. At one time there were so many stores to visit in the city, and the malls were always busy with shoppers. Nowadays it’s a little bit different thanks to the world of online shopping, something, as I stated in an earlier blog, concerns me. I still enjoy going to the stores and malls, seeing people scurry about looking at things, supporting local workers, and the ability to actually try things on in the store BEFORE buying will always outweigh shopping online. That, of course, is just my opinion.

So, with the recent news of some of our local malls loosing stores, what would you like to see open in our great city? Perhaps this is a time for small, local businesses to flourish by selling things that are not easy to buy online these days? Items that have a distinct local or southern Saskatchewan flair to them. I’ve always been a firm believer in big stores working together, in a sense, with local entrepreneurs. At one time it was the big box stores in a mall that drew people in who then visited the smaller stores since they were already there. Everybody benefited. One does not encounter that as much nowadays.

I feel fully confident in the management of our local malls that they will be working overtime to find stores and business that will once again fill the spaces and draw folks back in. Retail is a challenging industry to work in these days and I salute all those who are involved in this ever changing landscape.