Why Retail Success Is No Longer Just About Selling Products
For years, retail recruitment focused on a simple question:
What stores does the community need?
Today, the better question might be:
What experiences does the community need?
Recent results from Dick’s Sporting Goods offer a clear example of how consumer expectations continue to evolve. The retailer reported 6% comparable sales growth in its core business, building on several consecutive years of strong performance. One of the primary drivers behind that growth is its investment in experiential retail through its House of Sport concept.
These stores are not traditional sporting goods stores. They feature attractions such as climbing walls, batting cages, golf simulators, outdoor turf fields, and spaces where customers can interact with products before purchasing them. The result is simple: shoppers stay longer, engage more deeply, and spend more during each visit.
For communities focused on retail recruitment, the lesson extends far beyond sporting goods.
The New Retail Anchor
Historically, shopping centers relied on department stores to drive traffic.
Today, many of the fastest-growing concepts are creating destinations rather than simply offering merchandise.
Consumers increasingly choose locations where they can:
- Play
- Learn
- Compete
- Socialize
- Dine
- Attend events
- Create memories
This shift has opened the door for a new generation of experiential concepts, including:
- Pickleball venues
- Entertainment centers
- Interactive sports facilities
- Family activity destinations
- Food halls
- Recreation-focused retail
- Mixed-use developments
The goal is no longer just transactions.
The goal is to create reasons for people to visit.
Why Experiential Retail Matters for Economic Development
From a municipal perspective, experiential retail delivers benefits that traditional retail often cannot.
Longer Dwell Times
When visitors spend more time in a district, they are more likely to:
- Eat at local restaurants
- Visit neighboring businesses
- Attend community events
- Stay overnight
- Return for future visits
Longer dwell times often translate directly into greater economic activity. Watch a recent webinar recording on experiential retail.
Tourism and Destination Appeal
Many communities compete not only with neighboring cities but also with online shopping.
Experiential destinations give residents and visitors a reason to leave their homes and spend time in a physical place.
Whether it is a regional entertainment venue, an outdoor recreation concept, or an experiential sporting destination, these projects can become tourism drivers that attract visitors from well beyond the local trade area.
Increased Real Estate Interest
Dick’s Sporting Goods noted that its experiential formats have strengthened relationships with landlords because these locations drive traffic and create value for surrounding tenants.
The same principle applies at the community level.
When a destination retailer or entertainment concept enters a market, nearby properties often become more attractive to:
- Developers
- Investors
- Restaurants
- Service businesses
- Additional retailers
One successful project can create momentum throughout an entire corridor.
What This Means for Retail Recruitment
Communities should continue pursuing traditional retail categories such as grocery, dining, and everyday services.
However, communities that want to differentiate themselves should also evaluate opportunities in experiential retail.
Questions worth considering include:
- Do available sites support entertainment-focused concepts?
- Are there opportunities for mixed-use development?
- Can underutilized properties be repositioned as destinations?
- Does the community have tourism assets that support experiential brands?
- Are local leaders actively telling the story of visitor demand and quality of life?
Retail recruitment is no longer solely about filling vacant space.
It is about creating places where people want to spend their time.
The Opportunity Ahead
Dick’s Sporting Goods is proving that consumers are willing to visit physical stores when those stores offer something they cannot get online.
The same principle applies to communities.
The cities that thrive in the next decade will be those that create memorable places, support experiential businesses, and recognize that economic development increasingly depends on experiences as much as on products.
Communities that embrace this shift will be better positioned to attract visitors, support local businesses, and recruit the next generation of retail investment.
Next Steps
Want to understand which experiential retail concepts fit your market?
Retail Strategies helps communities identify retail gaps, evaluate real estate opportunities, and recruit retailers, restaurants, entertainment operators, and mixed-use developments that match local demand.
Contact the Retail Strategies team to learn how your community can position itself for the future of retail.
Download our Retail Recruitment Checklist to learn the steps communities can take to recruit the right mix of retail, restaurants, entertainment, and destination-driven businesses.
