Burrowing out and ready to gather food, the otherwise lowly gopher pops his head out of the ground, and takes a good look all around. That’s how he survives. And any brethren who happen to take a narrower look, well, let’s just say, they might not last so long.

Curiously, it’s the same in Retail.

The winners and “soon to be winners” have widened their views for a successful future. They’re not relying on a dimming charm, nostalgia, or romantic remembrance of retail’s yesteryear.

The future of retail…  is “omni”- short for “omnichannel.”

Sure, retail’s getting challenged, rightly so. The natural evolutions of demographics, technology, and cultural discourse, have combined to force smarter retailers into thinking differently: in effect, having to look all the way around… to best serve their customers, vendors, suppliers, and landlords, and survive (and even thrive) in the retail landscape.

I cover the world of REITs, as editor of the monthly Forbes Real Estate Investor. While putting together the newsletter’s October issue (which comes out Monday), I noticed an excellent assessment of the retail space by Marcus & Millichap, a firm specializing in commercial real estate investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, across the U.S. and Canada.

In their 2018 midyear Retail Outlook, the firm observes a retail reinvention in progress, with new retail concepts gaining traction, and improved sector fundamentals. Their report says, “While some retailers are investing capital into accelerated expansion efforts, others are reinvesting into existing locations.”