Why can't I just rely on galleries and art shows to come back after COVID?

The physical retail landscape has fundamentally changed. 50-60% of retail stores have closed permanently, and more closures are coming. Downtown areas and shopping districts are boarded up. Even when restrictions lift, the retail experience will be diminished because surrounding businesses that drove foot traffic are gone. The ‘anchor tenant’ effect that made gallery districts work is broken. More importantly, consumer habits have shifted permanently—what was projected for 2030 happened in 2020. People have discovered the convenience and time savings of buying online, and those habits don’t reverse. If you relied on galleries or shows before, expect to get only 25-50% of your previous results from those channels going forward, possibly less.

---

Asked by synthesized-from-teaching · Answered by Nick and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-09-02