Posted on 04/15/2017 4:03:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
From rural strip-malls to Manhattan’s avenues, it has been a disastrous two years for retail.
There have been nine retail bankruptcies in 2017—as many as all of 2016. J.C. Penney, RadioShack, Macy’s, and Sears have each announced more than 100 store closures. Sports Authority has liquidated, and Payless has filed for bankruptcy. Last week, several apparel companies’ stocks hit new multi-year lows, including Lululemon, Urban Outfitters, and American Eagle, and Ralph Lauren announced that it is closing its flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue, one of several brands to abandon that iconic thoroughfare.
A deep recession might explain an extinction-level event for large retailers. 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.
So, what the heck is going on? The reality is that overall retail spending continues to grow steadily, if a little meagerly. But several trends—including the rise of e-commerce, the over-supply of malls, and the surprising effects of a restaurant renaissance—have conspired to change the face of American shopping....
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
boycott of the antigun profag retail industries?
I do not see Walmart in there.
Who wants to run a retail business in New York? I’m sure there are certain masochists who want to try their livelong dream of opening their own business but with all the regulations, all the taxes, all the graft and all the political correct accommodations that are now mandated, starting a business in New York seems suicidal.
Right. The business model is shifting. Just like it did in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s from the central business district to malls. Now malls are dying in favor of online shopping. Why deal with traffic, parking, crowds and rude salespeople when you can press a button?
CC
Obama care is eating up all the disposable income.
Yep, we now buy from Ali baba or Mexico direct, thus no need for illegals here to work at walmart....
Online obviously and who wants to put with the obnoxious punks and being harassed by Obama’s sons which an increasingly common occurrence. The big abandoned malls are like something from a dystopian science fiction movie. Casualties of technology.
Good luck trying to find something as simple and basic as a FLY SWATTER. I was at the grocery store (shopping for groceries) and remembered I need a new fly swatter. They had an aisle or 2 displaying mops, lightbulbs, general houewares, but NO fly swatter. So I made a special trip to the hardware store, and still couldn’t find the damn thing until I asked one of the clerks. Guess what: they offered a mid-level swatter, an economy model, and a pack of three swatters. Its a wonder they weren’t trying to sell a rolled up newspaper (which is what I’ve been using lately).
I’m 58, the only clothes I have bought in years is underwear, socks, one pair of pants, slippers...
I have a closet full of clothes casual, dress and work type...
I don’t need any more...
“Too many stores” .... full of useless, ugly, overrated and overpriced junk.
Too many women’s stores....where I live the Goodwill is doing a booming business ..also the Salvation Army
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Not only too many women’s stores, but the prices are ridiculous. Today, I stopped off at Goodwill - bought two pairs of pants for $4.99 each. I looked at similar pants at Walmart (cheapest store in the area) & they were in the $10 - $20 each range. The Goodwill pants were exactly what I wanted - size/fabric .... Walmart ones weren’t close enough for me to spend the money. I won’t set foot in a JC Penny’s or Target.
Most of my shopping lately, other than Goodwill, has been on eBay & Amazon.
Online shopping.
The only kind of store I MISS is a real bookstore. Our local Books A Million closed last year and I don’t think there’s another retail one within 15 miles. Some of the most enjoyable moments I’ve had have been spent poking around in bookstores.
I love going to the local nursery and dreaming of enormous gardens and then buying a couple dozen for my little one.
Can’t think of anything else I miss shopping for in stores now. They’re not pleasant, the prices are silly and the service...isn’t.
Our stores are doing great this season - in part because the big players are finally starting to pay the price for decades of low quality and bad service. People feel confident because Trump is President, so they are willing to spend again - but they aren’t willing to buy cheap garbage like they thought they had to to survive under Obama. All the big stores were set up to supply that cheap garbage to nervous consumers, and now they can’t change their business models fast enough and are going under. As they deserve to.
We sure realized that we had waaaayy too much stuff when we downsized from a ten room 3 bath, full basement house to a small two bedroom apt. simply to have less stuff to take care of in our old age. Didn’t want to leave the kids the job of dealing with all that. Much happier in our little loft over son’s business on the village main street. Walk to the P.O., all the local stores, library, and churches when I get too old to drive my” church. Stuff never made anyone happy.
56 million aborted consumers.
Young people not forming families don’t need baby items, housing, furniture etc.
Aging population who have fewer consumer wants on fixed incomes.
I am sitting here surfing the net and all of a sudden I remember I needed something.
I click on Amazon, search for what I need, find it, click buy it and go back to surfing the net. Total time, maybe 2-3 minutes depending if I read the reviews or not.
No shipping charge.
Usually have it within in two days
What not to like
Restaurant Renaissance is the tip of the entertainment iceberg that is sucking retail down.
Meals out with friends.
Wine tasting, i.e. agri-tourism.
Food festivals - Car Shows - charity walk runs.
Outdoor concerts.
Travel.
Cable/Internet/Phone bills.
This is where the money flows.
I live in a college town, a Big 10 university is here. Four or five long-standing restaurants have closed down in the last three months. One was a Denny’s. How the f*** does a Denny’s close down?
Something strange going on.
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