With consumers forgoing brick-and-mortar shopping to buy via the internet, retailers are counting on new in-store food and bar operations to counter the decline in foot traffic. Walmart, Macy’s, Barnes & Noble and Publix have all recently disclosed plans to lure customers away from their screens with more ambitious foodservice operations. The onetime amenities are now being positioned as a main draw, with merchandise positioned as possible add-on purchases.
The plans came to light right before the government reported a 0.5% decline in total retail sales during August. Sales for “nonstore retailers,” the broad category that includes online merchants, jumped 10.9% for the same period.
Here’s a look at how some of retailing’s biggest names are counting on restaurants to temper that theft of business.