“The forces propelling online shopping were set in motion long before the pandemic. But charting the decline of many brick-and-mortar stores and the simultaneous growth of e-commerce in the past seven months is like watching the industry’s evolution, and its impact on the broader economy, on fast forward. In the future, 2020 will be seen as a major inflection point for retail.” NYT: As Customers Move Online, So Does the Holiday Shopping Season. (Or, why your favorite mall is turning into a distribution center.)