How Texas Developers Can Curate Unique Retail Experiences in Post-Pandemic, Mixed-Use Environments

By Barry Hand, principal, Gensler In a recent tour of a name-brand corporate campus, the host carefully explained to our team that his company’s policy regarding working from home (WFH) and returning to the office (RTO) remained loose as they completed a “year of learning.”   This “learning” presumably involved listening to staff, observing who badges in when and where, experimenting with what works and what doesn’t and resolving the best way to get their arms around the most effective policies.  This explanation has surely been given repeatedly in recent years. It appears most companies prefer to bring their people back to the office, but they also want to adopt policies that will work best for employees and customers, as well as the future of their organizations.  While there are outliers that have instituted clear return-to-office directives, most firms are adopting change management strategies organized around attracting staff back to the office. They are doing this by leaning on experiences and amenities that demonstrate to employees the benefits of being present in the office. It seems the “experience” around which retail and food-and-beverage establishments are designed has now also reached into the corporate world. The Amenitized Workplace Increasing numbers of…

 By Barry Hand, principal, Gensler In a recent tour of a name-brand corporate campus, the host carefully explained to our team that his company’s policy regarding working from home (WFH) and returning to the office (RTO) remained loose as they completed a “year of learning.”   This “learning” presumably involved listening to staff, observing who badges in when and where, experimenting with what works and what doesn’t and resolving the best way to get their arms around the most effective policies.  This explanation has surely been given repeatedly in recent years. It appears most companies prefer to bring their people back to the office, but they also want to adopt policies that will work best for employees and customers, as well as the future of their organizations.  While there are outliers that have instituted clear return-to-office directives, most firms are adopting change management strategies organized around attracting staff back to the office. They are doing this by leaning on experiences and amenities that demonstrate to employees the benefits of being present in the office. It seems the “experience” around which retail and food-and-beverage establishments are designed has now also reached into the corporate world. The Amenitized Workplace Increasing numbers of…