COVID-19 Drives DIY Trends in Beauty, Home

As states eye a gradual lifting of “stay at home” mandates, some retailers are planning to reopen stores. But Jane Hali, the principle of Jane Hali & Associates, said in her most-recent U.S. consumer outlook report that retail is not going to be the same in a post-COVID-19 world. Hali expects some department stores to remain off-line as online sales continue to grow. The pandemic has also reinvigorated old trends such as DIY, but with a wellness and beauty twist. And there’s also new behavioral-inspired categories emerging such as “home-leisure.” With department stores, Hali said expects the “vast majority of C-mall anchors will not reopen and probably a sizable percentage of B mall anchors as well. Unless the landlord has a redevelopment plan ready to go when the box goes vacant, the department stores will continue to be liable under the lease unless/until they file for bankruptcy.” With e-commerce, Hali said “digital was already a growth vehicle, now it is the only way to generate sales with stores closed.” “We expect consumers to continue on a larger scale to use various forms of digital post-COVID-19 as they shop and interact with others,” Hali said, adding that the firm envisions “a 50/50 percent split between

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