brick-and-mortar

adjective

brick-and-mor·tar ˈbrik-ən(d)-ˈmȯr-tər

variants or bricks-and-mortar

: relating to or being a traditional business serving customers in a building as contrasted to an online business

a brick-and-mortar store

Examples of brick-and-mortar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In March 2023 the brick-and-mortar store in the historic Shirt Factory opened and in March of 2024 Little Black Walnut Books, a children's bookstore, opened down the hall. —

American Booksellers Association, USA TODAY, 12 July 2024 Under the Levi’s parent company, Beyond Yoga grew to $100 million in revenue and opened brick-and-mortar stores for the first time. —

Chris Morris, Fortune, 12 July 2024 What’s more, cheaper fast-fashion alternatives like Shein and Primark have taken market share from the brick-and-mortar retailer. —

Ryan Baker, CNBC, 10 July 2024 Netflix, then primarily a DVD-by-mail service, destroyed the brick-and-mortar business. —

Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 9 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for brick-and-mortar

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brick-and-mortar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of brick-and-mortar was in 1975

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Brick-and-mortar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brick-and-mortar. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.

Copy Citation