The coronavirus pandemic has given retail businesses reason to evolve in an effort to change their customer’s shopping experience. Numerous reports from the retail industry have clearly shown the growth in online shopping, but shoppers still want to get out of their homes and enjoy in-store experiences as well.

As an enticement, innovative retailers are creating an atmosphere for shoppers to encounter something unexpected—a place to meet with friends and encounter something different from the norm of pre-pandemic shopping.

“We want to make our stores a place that you want to go and be with your friends,” explained Jaime Nordstrom of Nordstrom stores. “If we do our job and make our stores a great place to be, customers are going to have a great place to come and find something new.”