Turning back the clocks

The hero of British production ‘About Time’ uses this power to win the heart (and not only that) of an extraordinary girl, but a few people I know would probably use it in a slightly different way. If we could emulate the young Englishman, we would need to choose a dark place, focus for a moment, and then re-materialise a few years back – for example, we could find ourselves wandering around a shopping centre development in Romania. For a retail developer this in particular would be a good idea – after all, the country at that time was about to join the European Union and its citizens were certainly hungry for Western European-style shopping. Or perhaps it would be a bad idea – it remains a poor country and not every location turned out to be viable. Anyway, if I went back in time to become the manager of a shopping centre, a few years later I would find that my competition included not only the rival malls nearby, but stores located virtually (in more senses than one) all over the world, as in the meantime the number of electronic shopping enthusiasts would have grown exponentially. So, back in the dark cupboard once again, I close my eyes and... Exactly, what? Re-imagining the past doesn’t cost a penny, but the losses generated by failing facilities do. The November issue is dedicated to issues related to retail centres, but of course not just for those that perform poorly (these are still the exception to the rule in our region). What can the industry expect in the next few years? You could ask the experts or a fortune teller (the Halloween period might be a good time to find one), or jump into a time machine. At this point I would like to put to you the question (inspired by watching the films starring Michael J. Fox) I can never agree on with my husband: is it better to travel to the future or to the past? And what would you choose?