Retail Alliance will hold its first Virginia Retail Matters, a State of Retail, event at the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Hotel on Sept. 22.

To be held on the last date of Virginia Economic Development Association’s Fall Conference, Retail Matters will provide an in-depth look at the findings of a retail study commissioned by Retail Alliance and conducted in conjunction with Main Street America.

This major retail study analyzed current sales statistics and retail trends, blending them with national and state findings from their Main Street America Small Business Survey of micro and small brick-and-mortar retailers across the U.S. to provide an in-depth look at the state of retail in the U.S. and Virginia.

“Retail is a rapidly changing industry and it never changed more than it did during and post COVID. Some claim retail is dead but even during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, retail sales accounted for over $66 billion in Virginia Sales Tax Revenue. I’d argue it is quite ...