Downtown retail's pivot to food and drink (2010s–2020s)
As malls and street retail lost anchors, U.S. cities filled empty storefronts with restaurants, bars, dessert shops, and experiential tenants.
Vacancies converted to food halls and dining; landlords marketed food and beverage as replacements for apparel.
Food and drink became the default filler for ground-floor commercial space in many city centers.
Sugar Bar — a dessert bar with cocktails — is the same tenant type filling downtown storefronts nationwide.
