Migration to the Lone Star State is driving a retail construction boom. That’s according to new data from commercial real estate services firm Colliers, which found that between January 2021 and January 2025, Texas recorded a positive net domestic migration of 0.9%. Although construction slowed in 2020 amid pandemic-driven uncertainty, by early 2025, more than 17 million sq. ft. was under construction, with growth fueled by the state’s largest cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Colliers notes that the Texas retail boom contrasts with the national landscape, where construction activity remains historically low. Just 6 million sq. ft. of retail space was delivered nationwide in the second quarter of 2025, bringing total space under construction to 47.9 million sq. ft.

Join PhillyDMA on Wednesday, July 29th for “Innovative Direct Mail: How to Drive Open Rates with Compelling Envelopes!" The PhillyDMA is proud to host Jim King - VP of Sales, Strategic Accounts at Cenveo - to discuss the latest envelope treatments used to increase package opening rates. Direct marketers who want to drive response will not want to miss out on the educational content and the lively networking! We will see you there. Tickets: $5.00 PDMA Member $10.00 Non-PDMA Member register at: https://phillydma.starchapter.com/meet-reg1.php?id=5

Costco Wholesale Corp. and In-N-Out Burger are the retail and restaurant brands whose physical experiences resonate most strongly with customers. The membership warehouse club giant and burger chain took the top spots in brand strategy and retail design agency ChangeUp's second annual Experience Report, which ranks the top 100 retail and restaurant brands (separately) across eight “dimensions of experience.” These include memorability, return intent, substitutability, novelty, advocacy, unprompted visit desire, relevance and staleness.