The future of retail, restaurants, and shopping for the area were the main topics of conversation today at a “Fairfield Real Estate Outlook” seminar sponsored by Halloran & Sage and hosted by the Westport-Weston and Greater Norwalk Chambers of Commerce.

“Experiences are what people want,” real estate broker Julie Vanderblue of the Higgins Group told the meeting at the Inn at Longshore.

She continued, “If it’s just another mall, it won’t cut it. It needs to be exciting and if done right they will come, especially if walkable.” She was responding to a question about downtowns, malls and the future of retail.