I’m certainly not an expert on retail real estate, but I suspect that there are some fairly obvious trends. The nearly complete collapse of Video/DVD rental stores is probably the largest example. Borders folding nearly all their stores recently is another. Clearly there needs to be a rethinking of how space is used and what value the retailers are bringing to the customer. I’m not sure I see the same point that Stephen Gordon sees for educational instituations, but certainly the longer term visions seems plausible given current trends. But things change, people and instituations adapt to those changes and maybe something even better will emerge.

http://blog.speculist.com/scenarios/the-coffee-shop-take-over.html