Retail’s Reset Raises The Bar For Facilities Performance As Fewer Stores Carry More Weight

Retail is entering a more demanding phase. After years of rapid expansion and standardized growth, the market is narrowing, leaving fewer physical locations to carry greater expectations. For facilities and real estate leaders, it's less about store counts and more about accountability, as every location now plays a larger role in revenue, brand perception, and operational performance.

Ward A. Kampf has watched this cycle play out before. As President of Northwood Retail and former SVP at Glimcher Realty Trust, he has spent decades working through periods of aggressive growth, consolidation, and reinvention in the shopping center market. That perspective shapes how he views today’s store closures. Rather than reading them as a signal of decline, Kampf sees a familiar inflection point, one where inefficiencies are exposed and operational discipline becomes a competitive advantage.

"The physical store still really matters, but it has to earn its space. The retailers doing it right are dramatically more productive per square foot than the weaker, underperforming legacy brands that are not evolving to regain relevance," says Kampf. That shift toward productivity as the defining measure of success is reshaping decisions across the retail ecosystem. From location to operations, facilities strategy is becoming a central lever in determining which locations succeed and which fall behind.

• Clearing out the zombies: "We have a lot of zombie companies because we haven’t had a typical bankruptcy cycle," Kampf says. As those low-performing stores finally exit, facilities teams are inheriting space that must be rethought, repositioned, or redeployed for higher-performing uses rather than backfilled with more of the same.

• Following the data, not the prototype: "They have so much more data today, and they know where the money is," Kampf says. ZIP-code–level insights are shaping where stores open, how large they are, and how they operate. Facilities planning is shifting away from standardized rollouts toward site-specific decisions about layout, systems, and staffing.

Retailers are increasingly using location-level data to narrow their physical footprints to sites that can consistently perform. Rather than expanding for scale, they are focusing on markets with strong demographics, generational wealth, and proven demand, particularly in fast-growing metros such as Austin, Nashville, Dallas, and Charlotte. For facilities teams, this shift concentrates responsibility rather than reducing it. With fewer locations in the portfolio, each facility is expected to operate at a higher standard, with reliable uptime, tighter cost control, and spaces designed to support sales productivity, staffing efficiency, and customer convenience.

Those expectations are being reinforced by growing operational pressures, from higher labor costs to rising competition around time and convenience. As Kampf notes, performance is increasingly determined inside the four walls, where execution matters more than footprint alone. Leading retailers are using technology and smarter store design to eliminate friction, prevent lost sales, and make physical locations work harder. For facilities leaders, that puts greater emphasis on layouts, systems, and operational readiness that directly protect revenue, rather than simply maintaining space.

• Built for flow: Drawing from models like RH and Apple, retailers are using design to remove friction and signal value without unnecessary capital spend, ensuring each location functions as a productive environment rather than excess square footage. "People understand symmetry. They notice how a store is laid out, and they’ll spend more money when the space is clear and well designed."

This is not a moment for expansion for expansion’s sake. It reflects a shift toward disciplined growth, where physical space must earn its role through performance and purpose. As underperforming locations exit the market, the stores that remain are being asked to do more, operating with greater precision and supported by facilities strategies focused on efficiency and consistent execution.

That consolidation raises the stakes for operations. With smaller portfolios, the margin for error narrows, and a single location that struggles operationally can have an outsized impact on both brand perception and financial performance. For facilities leaders, this puts new weight on simplicity, reliability, and ease of operation, particularly in second-generation spaces that were built for scale rather than today’s more selective retail models. In this environment, stores earn their place not just through sales, but by functioning smoothly and predictably every day. "Time and convenience are the new currency," Kampf concludes.