I saw the tech shop of the future - and maybe retail isn't dead

Physical retail stores have been on a steady decline for over a decade. Take Best Buy, one of the largest physical retailers of technology in the country. The tech big box store reduced its footprint from 1,500 US stores in 2010 to around 1,200 in 2025, according to Statista. 

We could blame the pandemic for sending everyone into their homes and keeping them there, or rising retail space rents, or Amazon for its e-commerce platform that made it easier to shop nonchalantly in the comfort of one's own home. The truth is, going out to a crowded department store to buy something that could easily be sent to your house isn't fun. 

One New York store is aiming to change that.  

Tm:rw is a tech store that opened earlier this year. Unlike its competitors, it isn't trying to sell hundreds of TVs ...