Stores try to stay relevant while their doors are closed

NEW YORK (AP) — Long before there was a global coronavirus pandemic, brick-and-mortar retailers struggled to get people to walk through their doors instead of shopping online.

Now those retailers are faced with an even more Herculean task: how to stay on people's minds — and more importantly their pocketbooks — when many of their store doors are closed.

More than 250,000 stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Nike that sell non-essential merchandise have temporarily shuttered since mid-March in response to the pandemic. That’s 60% of overall U.S. retail square footage, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalRetail Research.

“Retail has hung a closed sign on the door literally and metaphorically,” Saunders said. “This is the most catastrophic crisis that retail has faced — worse than the financial crisis in 2008, worse than 9/11. Almost overnight, the retail economy shifted from being about things people want to things that they need.”

Some retailers have responded to the challenge by coming up with creative ways to stay relevant. Nike, for instance, introduced workout apps in China when the coronavirus first surfaced there, resulting in an 80% increase in users within the quarter and a 30% increase in online sales. It’s now pushing a similar campaign in the U.S. and Europe.

Yoga pants maker Lululemon is holding online classes in North America and Europe after gaining thousands of new followers in China on WeChat. Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald told analysts during a recent call that during its first week of closures in the U.S., it saw nearly 170,000 customers join Lululemon for its live classes.

Small businesses are also pivoting in order to hold onto customers. Camp, a new toy chain that set itself apart from online retailers by doubling down on the physical experience, is hosting...