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People have spoken and prefer Fortnite about Cinnabon. Epic Games has announced that it will take over a shopping center in Cary, North Carolina, to become its new headquarters. Who knows, maybe CEO Tim Sweeney’s corner office will be in a former GameStop.
According to a statement, the company will move to the new location at the Cary Towne Center by 2024. The project will combine offices with “recreational spaces” and will be designed with long-term growth in mind. Epic has been based in Cary since 1999.
Writing on the wall – The same forces that are causing department stores and mall operators to go bankrupt – that is, the closed closings imposed by the pandemic – are generating huge profits for the tech industry. The new habits are solidifying as people get used to doing everything at home, from working to buying food. And many are realizing that the old ways of doing things weren’t as valuable as they once thought. Malls are pretty terrible!
Now, as we’re seeing, tech companies can benefit from the death of retail in more ways than one. Large mall-sized real estate might have been harder to find in normal times.
Winners and Losers – It’s not that the death of retail wasn’t happening before the pandemic; shopping malls have been in decline for years. The process is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. According to recent data, a third of consumers in the US expect to increase spending online as a result of the pandemic. The only survivors in retail appear to be the big box stores where essentials such as food and home improvement items are sold.
Epic Games may not be the only one collecting the remains of its victims. Amazon has reportedly discussed turning the old houses of JC Penneys and other retailers into distribution centers. With no end in sight to the pandemic, it appears that this trend could continue well into 2021.
