The beginning of the end?
They’re are going the way of Montgomery Wards.
Brick and mortar is so 20th Century.
IMO most of these companies had over-expanded anyway. Opening stores every year to sell stock to idiots who did not understand the concept of comp store sales.
There is more vacant retail space out there than we’re ever gonna fill again.
Look on the bright side there will be lots of new jobs preparing tax returns.
:o
Retail stinky jobs is the last twig holding up the bankster’s house.
People lack the cash to spend.
I haven’t made a sale on Ebay since the first week in December. Same with Craigslist. Potential buyers keep making lowball offers that are unsettling; no way do I sell 14K and 18K gold below scrap metal prices.
The gold items that I am presently selling on Ebay, if they do no sell tomorrow, will be going to the metal scrapper.
I have to pay my utility bills.
it’s already happening. Stores have a crappy selection, but boast that you can shop 24/7 online, and when you dont find what you want in the store, they can SHIP IT TO YOU. This will crank up the cost because now you’re paying for tax AND shipping.
Just another exmaple of getting far less for far more.
Good job, Barry. WAY TO GO!
These are stores whose headquarters put their social agendas before their merchandise. Too bad those they support don’t support them. /s
There's no reason to buy merchandise locally. Most of it is pawed over and in those large stores shopping isn't even fun. All of the merchandise is the same anyway, just with different labels. What's the point of having local merchandise if the stores don't sell unique hand-crafted merchandise that I can't get online?
I noticed that since Xmas the local Barnes & Noble has stopped carrying a LOT of periodicals that I happen to like and would regularly buy from them.
They’re also dedicating a LOT more space to non-book items like toys and games.
I understand that the advent of eBooks, etc, has really messed with their business model. But I really lament that their business model drove all of the Mom&Pop newstands out of business (and I patronized those Mom&Pops up to the point where I could only find the magazines I was interested in elsewhere).
It’s probably too much to hope for a resurgence in the small and niche local retailer segment ...
So much for the Consumer driven recovery. Because of ObamaCare, we have $8K less discretionary income this year.
Retail is not the "service economy". It is a necessary part of the wealth-creating economy.
Retail creates wealth by storing inventory in quantities too large for the consumer. Its profit is made by permitting the consumer to buy what he needs when he wants without the expense of buying and storing pallets of it in a warehouse.
Online shopping.
The knockout game isn’t helping retail, either.
I personally find some schadenfreude in the fact that the same big retail chains that had everything to do with starting the race to the bottom for the US labor market by pushing for free trade are now getting buggered themselves by etailers.
It’s no comfort at all in that the collapse of traditional retail is going to put a whole slew of people out of work. Without any real industry or wealth production to support the retail and housing booms, they were going to die-off sooner or later anyway.
