Shoppers still love real stores

Internet shopping is all the rage.

So why are retail chains like Chico's FAS still building brick-and-mortar stores?

In fact, the Fort Myers-based women's retailer says it plans to build 120 stores a year under its various brands, including Chico's, White House | Black Market, Soma Intimates and Boston Proper.

It turns out that the shopper inside Chico's brick-and-mortar stores spends more than twice as much as she does online. And the customer who buys clothing from Chico's in both the stores and online spends seven times the Internet-only customer.

That's according to David Dyer, the president and CEO of Chico's, speaking in response to a stock analyst's questions on a recent earnings call posted on SeekingAlpha.com.

“People want to touch product, they want to feel it, they want to try it on. And I think there's always going to be a place for stores,” Dyer says.

So don't count malls out yet. As long as people want to shop in stores and spend more there, retailers will follow.