Brooklyn can support a wide variety of retail because it has the population and household income to do so, and is underserved by retail. The idea that big boxes drive out small retail is a myth that mistakes correlation for causation. Small retail suffers in areas where population and income are declining: aging rust belt areas or rural areas where automation in agriculture is eliminating jobs. It doesn’t happen in areas that are growing. In economically healthy areas, like Brooklyn or the New Jersey suburbs, small retail thrives in proximity to big boxes, like remoras alongside a shark. Mall owners in Jersey don’t have any problem renting out their smaller spaces when they have Wal-Mart or Target as an anchor.

— by Flatbushwhacker in Brooklyn Solves Retail Puzzle