Retail Employment by Location, 2019, March 2021

East-West Gateway’s March 2021 Map of the Month depicts the total retail employment by 1/8 square mile hexagonal grid for the year 2019 for the St. Louis eight-county region. In December 2019, there were approximately 141,800 retail sector jobs, which was about 10.1% of total employment for the St. Louis 15-county MSA. The retail sector was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but by December 2020 many of these jobs had been recovered, with a drop of only 200 jobs (based on preliminary data) regionally from the previous year. As a percentage of total employment, the retail sector increased to approximately 10.6% by the end of 2020. Not surprisingly, the highest concentrations of retail employment are found at major regional malls such as the St. Louis Galleria, West County Center, Mid Rivers Mall and St. Clair Square. Other large concentrations are found at Lambert Airport, Chesterfield Valley and along most large thoroughfares throughout the region.