Oxford, Miss.–based Neilson’s Department Store, which opened in 1839 and is the oldest store in the South, is a case in point. “Online shopping is easily the most significant competition we have encountered in my experience,” Will Lewis Jr., whose family owns the store, told The Clarion-Ledger. “The younger generation in our family-owned business made me realize that this era had arrived, so about three years ago we embarked on a new business plan, rented 3,500 square feet to a restaurant, remodeled, and downsized the lines we carried to attempt to avoid what could be found in abundance on the Internet,” Lewis said. “At the same time, we hired a general manager who had been in the market and knew how to better deal with vendors who could help us try to be unique.”

Reed’s, another storied Mississippi department store, is improving its website to better complement physical sales and to boost online shopping. Reed’s was founded in Tupelo in 1905; the company operates stores there and in Starkville.