Elizabeth Licata: Malls may be faltering, but it looks like shopping can do without them

Shoppers gonna shop. Put another way, the death of brick-and-mortar retail may have been highly exaggerated. 

According to the latest bulletins from Buffalo retail gurus, when it comes to shopping, you can have it all. Just not as much of each thing and not all at once.

I can’t be alone in my futile dreams of a resuscitated walkable “Main” Street where department stores, small retail, diners, libraries, movie houses and pharmacies jostle side by side, welcoming streams of foot traffic.

Kind of sounds like an old black and white movie, right? But even those not ancient enough to remember when that actually happened must be able to imagine the convenience – and the pleasure – of it. Buffalo had this once. Now, an empty and dilapidated AM&A’s building is the only reminder of a thriving downtown shopping district.