Retailers Scrambling To Adjust To Changing Consumer Habits (90,000 layoffs since October)

KPBS-FM ^ | May 2, 2017 | Yuki Noguchi, NPR

[cba123]

I myself do not believe, we are in a strong economy.

I think the economy is now what it has been for years, a shrinking mess.

Sure Trump is off to a good start, but I do not see things improving anytime quickly.

The last couple of monthly reports, have actually been worse than they had been before.

Trump is on the right track generally, but he is not championing American jobs yet, that I have seen.

[relictele]

My habits haven’t changed dramatically, but when they have changed it has been mostly down to stupid retailer tricks:

Everyone stocking the same Chinese tat.
Empty shelves.
Bait and switch.
Byzantine return policies and downright combative employees who act as if the refund is coming out of their own pocket.
A lack of cashiers and slow checkout.
Interminable and annoying sales pitches for warranties, credit cards, and so-called charities.
Appallingly inadequate product knowledge.

And then there are the properties, a magnet for feral fatherless punks.

Is Amazon convenient? Well stocked? Yes and yes but when I need an item the same day it would still be nice to have the local option.

[Parley Baer]

From what I have seen Trump is doing all he can to create a good atmosphere for business to thrive in. He has been cutting all the job killing regulations that he can.

[relictele]

Mark Cohen, a former CEO of Sears Canada who now directs retail studies at Columbia Business School

Thus proving that those who can't, teach.

[Mark]

There have been many postings here about companies returning to the U.S.from overseas for manufacturing, etc.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Just search keyword “jobs” her at Free Republic.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"They'll be in operations; they'll be in warehousing; they'll be in store management..."

"Store management". WTF? The whole article is about the death of retail. They are really going to re-train people to manage the stores that went out of business? What is he smoking? What stores?

"Daddy, tell me again what a "store" is! Did you really have stores when you were a kid? What was it like? Did you REALLY have to take Uber to a building where you bought stuff?"

[cba123]

I appreciate the fact you post frequently about jobs which are being added.

I really do. Thanks for paying attention to American jobs, your posts are a true inspiration.

But I am talking about jobs. Real jobs. Increasing American employment.

So far, I have not seen that.

I am waiting. I am hopeful. I am not saying Trump is not doing anything about American jobs.

I am just saying, we are still waiting to see proof things have changed from the way they were.

I have not seen that yet. Not yet, that I have seen anyway.

But good jobs on the posts. :D

[2ndDivisionVet]

One million is a big number:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3547383/posts

So is five million:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3549253/posts

[bicyclerepair]

My beef with a mall is finding a damn parking spot after maneuvering in god-awful traffic then trekking a half mile in the heat into the damn store.

Forget that for discretionary spending.

[AustinBill]

It's no mystery at all. One word: Amazon. Take a look at this article for why. Note that the figures here are as of the end of last year. Since then Amazon's market capitalization has increased by over $100 billion while Walmart's has shrunk by around $50 billion. Basically the retail universe now consists of Amazon, Walmart, and debris.

[cyclotic]

I liked your comment about Byzantine return rules.

Two years ago, my mother got me a pair of jeans for Christmas. I really, really didn’t like them. They were from Eddie Bauer and too trendy in design for me. So, with gift receipt in hand, I went to Eddie Bauer, the nearest store being about 40 miles away.

I looked through the store and found nothing that caught my attention as wanting to wear so I asked for a refund.

Apparently a gift receipt, printed, with an Eddie Bauer logo on it isn’t enough for a cash refund. What is is good for? who knows.

I reminded the store clerk that mall based retailers are shutting down all over and perhaps a modicum of actual customer service might be in order, especially for someone who had never darkened their doors before or since.

My wife finally found a shirt she liked after several searches of their website, getting me nothing for Christmas.

[Greenpees]

Not sure why anyone would listen to Cohen. He sucked Sears dry, never trying to innovate anything. He sold off their organs, little by little, for artificial quarterly profits. He is an undertaker. I’m all for Capitalism, but Cohen is a human leach. He’d sell his mother.

[hinckley buzzard]

Monday morning I discovered I needed a new printer/copier/fax for my -office. So I went to Best Buy and bought one and took it back and set it up. Sent out faxes by afternoon. Brick and mortar definitely has its place, but no mall will ever again need 49 women's clothing stores for every men's store..

[PA Engineer]

Here is something to add to your list. Check out the news updates for the company. I knew them when I first started out working. Great family company. I should have taken them up on their job offer when they were small.

Dura Bond

Energy related work is booming in western Pennsylvania. The new Shell plant is having a tsunami of ripple hiring.

Here is an interesting problem companies are having. I get calls from associates and ex-bosses regularly. They ask the same question. Do you know anyone that will show up to work reliably from 9 to 5 and is 18 years or older? Work a full day and overtime as required? We will train and provide all certifications. Income will exceed 90K a year with full benefits. One more thing, they have to pass a drug test.

[LS]

I think we’re in a really good economy, but one that is rapidly changing for the better from what EVERYONE here has whined about for years-—a consumer economy-—to what Reagan had, a production and investment economy.

If you look at post after post of expansions, jobs added, investment confidence, and so on, it’s really clear that the economy’s on the right track, but retailers, who have been (unfortunately) leading for the past 10 years are now going to have a hard time.

This is the beginning of the new supply-side revolution and it always starts with investment.

[LS]

Great points. My wife shops retail stores a lot and says there is NO ONE there to help you find anything, to ask questions, and often not even to take money. Increasingly they don’t want cash, either.

Everything you mention she confirms. So, yeah, retailers will be in for a hard time till they figure this out.

[VideoPaul]

I went to Sears to find something. It was between herramientas and plomeria.

[Rusty0604]

I don’t think anyone, except maybe you, expected the private sector to be able to immediately go on a hiring frenzy within weeks of Trump’s inauguration. Trump has been working to create a better business environment so they can plan and expand. If the republicans can get the tax overhaul done that will help the most.