The aim of this theoretical research is to analyze the state of retail distribution nowadays, reviewing the dynamics of action that contribute to the move from a linear to an incipient circular retail model. The framework is based on the Retail Wheel Spins Theory and the Retail Life Cycle (RLC), with an extra review of Bauman’s liquid metaphor. We consider two questions. Firstly, are offline retailers ready to disappear as online commerce and digital marketing aggressively break into the retail industry? Secondly, could commercial spaces (in the fifth stage in the evolution of retail and territory) be in the decline stage in the RLC in the near future or can a circular connection take place? Thus, a desk research methodology based on secondary documentary material and sources issued leads to an interpretive analysis that reveals ten trends (e.g., solid retail vs. liquid retail; glocal retail; food sovereignty) and a wide diversity of changes that could involve offline stores recovering territory and entering a circular phase. Our findings suggest that digitalized physical stores are flourishing and our reflections augur changes in pace and the closure of the linear business cycle to recover territory, the city, its local market, and its symbolism, as well as a liquid business steeped in omnichannel formats developing an incipient circular movement. Conclusions indicate that it is possible to perceive a timid change back to territory and retail spaces which, along with phygitalization, will coexist with the digital world.
El comercio urbano ha experimentado profundos cambios en las últimas décadas, debido a la modernización de las empresas comerciales y a los nuevos hábitos de consumo y de uso del territorio. Los formatos tradicionales dedicados a la venta de productos de alimentación han sido los más perjudicados, aunque en los últimos años ha habido un cambio de tendencia que centra el éxito comercial en la especialización. Esta especialización abre nuevas perspectivas al comercio tradicional y por supuesto, supone una posible revalorización del espacio urbano comercial en crisis frente a los consolidados ejes comerciales centrales y centros comerciales suburbanos.
RESUMENEl comercio étnico posee una gran representatividad espacial y social en la economía étnica. Por ese motivo, el comercio puede convertirse en una oportunidad de socialización de los empresarios inmigrantes con la sociedad y economía receptoras, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que el colectivo de inmigrantes es uno de los más desfavorecidos en sociedades postindustriales, el autoempleo en el sector terciario se ha convertido en una de las alternativas más viables al desempleo industrial. En este artículo se ha realizado un análisis sobre los comercios regentados por empresarios polacos en la Cuenca del Ruhr alemana con la finalidad de analizar el grado de integración territorial, social y comercial que estos comercios poseen, dependiendo de su localización e interacción con la sociedad y economía de base.Palabras clave: economía étnica, comercio étnico, integración social, enclave étnico, Cuenca del Ruhr.
ABSTRACTEthnic shops have large spatial and social representativity among the entrepreneurial activities of the ethnic economy. Ethnic retail may become a good opportunity for immigrants, as long as it is inserted in a positive social and geographical atmosphere, mostly when immigrants are one the most disadvantaged groups of post-industrial economies in order to find a new job. For this reason, self-employment is considered a viable alternative against industrial unemploy-
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