Retail

Millennials are the largest and fastest-growing retail consumer segment in the nation. In Hampton Roads, this demographic represents 30 percent of a total population in excess of 1.7 million people. This tech-savvy and largely transient group spends approximately $3.4 billion on retail and dining every year in the local economy. It is widely acknowledged that Millennials are changing the retail industry. Developers and retailers alike, faced with rapidly changing spending patterns, more than ever must focus on the shopping, living and working trends of these consumers in order to ensure that future developments meet the needs and expectations of this demographic. The well-established, nationwide trend of shoppers migrating to walkable, mixed-use environments has led to the proliferation of multi-faceted, pedestrian-friendly developments that feature specialty retail as an integral part of a live/work/play theme in a more or less urban setting. Hampton Roads is no exception to this movement. This explains the growth of lifestyle centers in Hampton Roads, as well as the successful repositioning of some traditional malls in the region. The combination of these upscale projects and the purchasing power of the large population base has finally caught the attention of many upscale national retailers that heretofore had considered …