What in the World Is Causing the Retail Meltdown of 2017?

The Atlantic ^ | April 10, 2017 | Derek Thompson

[rbg81]

Who needs the aggravation of going to a store where there is rarely anyone there to help you out.

---

Tell me about it. Walmart has deals, but try going to one of their stores and getting help finding them. That happened to me yesterday. It took me 10 minutes to flag down an associate. Then they had to page another associate to help me. And they were out of my size. Just awful.

[TChad]

Amazon + free shipping = sayonara brick & mortar retail.

[PTBAA]

Maybe everyone has enough stuff.

[boycott]

Too many stores

—

Agreed. That and the online stores.

There has to be 15+ sporting goods in the Mobile, AL area. Then if you add the Walmarts of the world, there are just way too many.

[freedumb2003]

The Russians.

They hacked the shoppers’ brains.

[tet68]

But GDP has been growing for eight straight years, gas prices are low, unemployment is under 5 percent, and the last 18 months have been quietly excellent years for wage growth, particularly for middle- and lower-income Americans.

Only if you believe the media hyped Obama successes.

[Raymann]

I went to the mall once last year, right before Christmas. The girl scouts were there and I needed someone to wrap all the gifts I bought online. ☺

[mowowie]

Amazon, etc plus People don’t have to deal with “teens” while shopping on-line.

[mass55th]

"Too many stores"

Exactly.

[Vermont Lt]

There are a lot of things wrong around here. Sure, people are working. My “new” job pays me about half of what I was making a few years ago. I finally paid off my credit cards—not using those any more.

And I buy just about everything on Amazon. The ONLY reason I’ve been to a mall in the past two years is to go to the movies.

[The Cuban]

A great Cuban American.

[ptsal]

What’s not to like?

<>Jeff Bezos may not be likeable.

[WVNan]

Yes, I believe it’s Amazon. It’s the automatic default for everything we buy except groceries. However, I am uncomfortable with the idea of only one retail source. Things can happen to any business or country. So where do you buy when the big one hits the atmosphere and all the power goes down? Better keep our grocery stores, especially the ones you can walk to.

[lucky american]

One word. Amazon

[Salamander]

I really miss Borders and Circuit City, though

:(

[bella1]

Online shopping and the rise of working remotely from home. I've been working from home for 15 years now and my wardrobe has shrunk considerably since I no longer have to go to the office. Saves a ton of money not having to “dress” for the office.

[dfwgator]

Maybe people are finally waking up and realizing that they’ve got too much damned stuff.

[WVNan]

Yep, I get most of my clothes at Goodwill. I absolutely hate the stuff coming out of China, Vietnam and Shri Lanka. I hate the fabric and the styles. Goodwill is the only place I can find decent looking clothes. But even they are starting to run out of things that go back to the 80s & early 90s. What is an old woman supposed to do? Actually I think some of those retail stores will learn how to use the internet effectively and survive competition with Amazon.

[.45 Long Colt]

I’m an E-tailer and my business continues to grow. I’m so thankful Al Gore invented the internet.

[grania]

Retail will not survive if it doesn’t offer unique and interesting goods that are not available online. There just doesn’t seem much in clothes, furniture, house furnishings, new appliances, crafts etc that’s going to get folks back to the stores.