[DesertRhino]

But Obama manages to keep the public talk locked on Ukraine, global warming, homos in Russia, bombing Syria,,,, ANYTHING except the facts in this story, or of Obamacare.

[cuban leaf]

I agree with the general premise of the article, but I should mention that in my area a Nordstrom Rack and a new costco were opened.

Problem with stuff like this article is that they sometimes forget to include the stores that are doing better. The US government had to buy out GM, but Ford was (and is) thriving.

[cuban leaf]

#14 Video rental giant Blockbuster has completely shut down all of their stores.

---

Apparently their buggy whips have fallen out of favor.

[Organic Panic]

Let’s not forget while we are all forced to buy obamacare Sandra Fluck will get free birth control.

[tcrlaf]

This simply isn’t possible. MY TV has been telling me for years that the Obama economy is fantastic! Why, just look at the DOW!!
(look at anything else, though, and you might be a racist.)

[jimsin]

RECOVERY SCHMEKOVERY....HASN'T THIS DUNCE EVERY HEARD OF THE CONCEPT OF TRENDING? YEP...TRENDING FOLKS... YOU HEARD ME..... TRENDING DAMMIT!...

YOU SEE GENTLE READER WE ARE KNEE DEEP IN THE ERA OF HUXLEY HUCKSTERING LIBSPEAK ...CURRENTLY, YOU DO NOT ACTUALLY EFFIN HAVE TO BE IN A RECOVERY ALL YOU EFFIN HAVE TO DO IS JUST SAY YOU ARE TRENDING TOWARD A RECOVERY SOMETIMES IT'S CALLED 'BENDING THE ARC' .....IT'S PARA NORMAL....AND I FOR ONE THINK IT'S THE WAY TO GO. FOR IF YOU JUST SAY IT'S SO ....THEN BY DAMN IT MAGICALLY BECOMES SO...OR SOMETHING.

....THINK ABOUT IT YOU WANT YOUR ARC BENT? THEN VOTE DEMOCRO...I RELEASE THE BALANCE OF MY TIME...

[LittleBillyInfidel]

Much of tthis list is anecdotal as consumer spending has shifted to online purchasing. We don’t even go to PetSmart anymore, since the kitty food is cheaper in online bulk. I can’t remember the last time i went Christmas shopping at a mall, yet, my spending is the same. I remember the kids at Blockbuster, two years before my favorite store’s demise, asking me not less than three times every time I was at the checkout to sign up for their online services. One day, I finally got annoyed and asked “you DO realize that your trying to sell away your own job, right?”. He replied “oh no, Blockbuster just wants you to have the option of finding other movies that we don’t carry. “Uh uh.

Another anecdote... At least our area restaurants are still really packed on the weekends...for now... B-HO’s carnage has still yet to be seen as it’s masked by social support.

[GAFreedom]

I must disagree with this fellow. Internet shopping does account for the “great retail apocalypse”. When you can get all your media online, why would you shop for it? I can’t count the last time I went to a Radio Shack, or an office products store, or J. C. Penny, or Sears. A lot of jobs at Wal-Mart and Target are being replaced by automation. The low prices offered by internet retailers and the big-box stores murder anything offered by small or medium businesses.

Frankly, what strikes me as bogus is #14, about Blockbuster. Who even goes to Blockbuster anymore? You have the internet, you have Netflix, and you have Red Box, all of which provide faster and cheaper service with less hassle. Don’t have to worry much about late fees.

Unless you’re running a hobbyist place or some specialty thing, having retail space is just plain getting to be obsolete. I wouldn’t start any new retail business with it. I’d keep it internet only, save on capital outlay.

[Eric Pode of Croydon]

That graph you posted is terribly designed, makes a 4% drop look like 100%. The employment situation is bad enough when presented accurately, does not need a misleading graphic to make the point.

[The Working Man]

We live in Central Kentucky and for that matter way out in the ‘sticks’. Nearly all of our discretionary shopping is done on-line. One of the biggest changes we’ve noticed over the years is that our impulse buying has nearly stopped. It’s only when we do our bi-weekly grocery shopping that we purchase items that we really don’t ‘need’ but decided to buy anyway.

If our particular shopping habits are becoming more common then it is no wonder so many stores are closing down. No demand means no money coming in equals going out of business. It’s as simple as that.

The real question here is: What is the future for retail business in the long and short-terms? My own guess is that we will see more on-demand manufacturing for products as they are needed.

My own latest personal example was I needed a new desk. My old one was a mass production piece that was made of inferior materials and covered in veneers and ‘paper’. My new one although being smaller that the old one is a sturdy hand-made piece made out of walnut by a local craftsman. I paid a nice sum for it and I can say it will last a long-time and probably be handed down to one of my grand-children later in this century.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Due to technogy the era of the big box store is ending overhead is critical. My prediction is that numerous small businesses primarily operating on the Internet will replace most mall stores. They will use just in time inventory and limit the range of what they sell

[2001convSVT]

And we still can't buy any ammo, especially 22’s. Why can't the ammo companies build any new factories? and hire someone to make the stuff? At the present demand rate we could put a hundred thousand people to work.

[yldstrk]

It’s because we have reached the saturation point on junk

Most of us have all the crap we could possibly need

[bert]

-——why are major retail chains closing thousands of stores——

Because the stores were built as a result of unjustifiable exuberance.

A curve was drawn and projected linearly to develop a number of new stores to be built. They were built in the face of an economic head wind that made the effort unjustified. The person that made the decision would not back down and the closings lag the necessity.

Radio Shack has nothing unique to sell. Radio Shack is obsolete. JC Penny hired a fool that trashed a hundred years of retail experience. The penalty was severe.

Sears and K Mart merged to gather strength but the model is not able to withstand the competition wrought by technology the company failed to use.

Blockbuster was rendered obsolete by Netflix

Change is at the root but bad economy is not the sole culprit

Hard times are in reality somewhat hard times. Some are bothered but most are not. Life goes on at a plateaued level

[Travis McGee]

It doesn't matter in the fundamentally transformed USSA.

The State will provide for all of your needs. As determined by the State.

[Soul of the South]

There are some significant other contributing factors to the decline of traditional retail stores:

1) The internet has been taking market share from brick and mortar stores
2) Technology change has decimated stores selling or renting music and video such as Best Buy, Circuit City (gone), Blockbuster, and Hollywood Video.
3) Aging of the population. As the baby boomers reach retirement age they are downsizing homes and liquidating possessions. The home furnishings, tools, and clothing they are selling or giving away reduces demand for retail stores.
4) The proliferation of second hand retail stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, consignment shops, and flea markets) is taking market share from traditional discount chains.
5) Craigs List and eBay have created new ways for consumer to find second hand merchandise as well as new goods and services, bypassing traditional brick & mortar retailers.
6) The rise of dollar stores servicing low income customers and taking market share from discount stores.
7) Casual dress in the workplace has shifted clothing buying patterns.
8) Shifts in the demand for consumer products due to demographics changes and technology result in reallocation of disposable income by consumers and therefore store selection. An example is demand for cell phones which is resulting in a proliferation of retail outlets marketing mobile phones and accessories. The billions being spent on cell phones and mobile services each year by consumers represents a shift in purchasing from other products and retail stores.

The retail landscape is constantly evolving in response to demographic shifts, technology, and changing consumer tastes. In my lifetime I’ve seen the demise of the 5 and dime store (Woolworth’s, TG&Y, Kresge) offset by the creation of the dollar store concept. The local mom & pop drug store has been replaced by big chain drug/convenience stores such as Walgreens and CVS. Gasoline station franchises of the big oil companies where the attendant pumped gas for you have been replaced by chain gasoline/convenience/fast food stores such as WaWa and Sheets. Specialty store chains, such as Victoria’s Secret, Ann Taylor, Talbots, Chico’s, and Jos A Banks have replaced mom & pop local clothing stores. Local bookstores have gone away, replaced by Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon. Now electronic downloading of books to Kindles, iPads, and Nooks has killed Borders and threatens Barnes & Noble as well as the local public library. The Sears, Montgomery Wards, and JC Penny catalogs were discontinued two decades ago only to be replaced by Amazon and other internet retailers who adapted technology to make mail order shopping a growth industry.

Some formerly great retail chains such as Kmart and Sears are currently dying because the Wall Street investment wizards who purchased them are stripping them of assets by not investing in store upkeep, inventory, or associates on the floor. The management failure to provide good value and service to customers is causing them to fail, not the economy.

On the flip side we see other brick and mortar retailers thriving - H&M, Zara, Apple, Trader Joe’s. History shows retailers who understand the customer, adapt to the times, and continue to innovate will prosper even in hard times.

[old and tired]

I'm not denying the economy's in the crapper, but this article is a lot of hysteria. Blockbuster is closing its stores? Is that really a sign of a bad economy? Radio Shack? Many components that could only be picked up there can now be more easily purchased (with a much greater selection) on the internet. Rural Walmarts? Once again, I would think a lot of the non-food stuff can be more easily purchased on the internet for a lot of the rural population. Maybe quicker too, if folks don't plan on heading out in their Walmart's direction for a few days. Unfortunately for Staples, a lot of office supplies can be purchased much more cheaply from Costco.

I'm looking at this list of stores and I'm thinking that I haven't really shopped at most of them in more than a decade.

[relictele]

I will readily concede that no retailer can compete on price and an unlimited, if virtual, inventory at Amazon or elsewhere online.

However...many of retail’s problems are self-inflicted.

1) They worry less about the current sale and more about the next one. A once-simple checkout procedure is now a sparring match with cashiers asking for loyalty cards (irony alert), quizzing you on why you don’t have one, demanding to know your details so they can ‘look you up,’ and pressing you to obtain one.

2) If retailers want market research, then they can bloody well pay for it and conduct it themselves. Stop hounding me to ‘visit this web site and take a survey and register to win.’ I’m tired of getting receipts longer than a roll of toilet paper. You want feedback? Here’s some feedback: how about thanking me for my purchase instead? ‘Have a good one’ is not the same thing as gratitude.

3) Retailers are suffering death-by-actuary. By hyperanalyzing sales figures, they are creating a death spiral. If you stock only ‘top sellers,’ you eliminate variety. Eventually, this whittling will turn a redwood into a toothpick. Retailers will claim they are attempting to protect their profitability but the result is a boring sameness of merchandise across so-called competitors. What’s the point of shopping retail if I have no option but to wear what everyone else is wearing? Have you seen some of these people? If I can’t tell Macy’s from Dillard’s from Belk then what incentive do I have to shop at one over the other?

4) The OEMs (brands) aren’t helping. It’s clear that they are issuing tiers of product, with some going to mass retailers, some to specialty stores, some to their own ‘factory stores’ (what used to be outlets featuring bargains) etc. Anyone paying attention knows that if you’re looking for a particular model of adidas shoe, for example, you can eliminate certain retailers from the search as they stock only low-end or targeted models. And you’ll probably end up ordering from Zappos anyway due to miserly purchasing decisions by retailers. Why are retailers buying a single size run? It’s madness, especially considering the concentration of purchases in a particular size range (e.g. shoe 9-11). There’s a reason clearance sales have shoes sizes 5, 6, 7 and shirt sizes Small and Medium - nobody buys this stuff! Why are OEMs and retailers sticking to this outdated, futile approach?

I freely admit my tastes are particular and overly-considered but I remain shocked that I can walk through an entire mall without even being tempted by a product. Or perhaps it’s because I reject ‘fashion’ in favor of a shoe that isn’t as light as a bedroom slipper (and will fall apart quickly) or a shirt through which I can read a newspaper.

If we must buy clothes made in China so be it. It doesn’t mean I want to look like a bike-riding peasant in Beijing, however.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Having worked in that business for a number of years, I can enlighten the author to one key relevant fact.

Retail chains are run by IDIOTS!

They construct their own pyramid scheme on borrowed money. They go out and overexpand, building stores to pump up their sales figures to lure investors who are too darned ignorant to grasp the concept of “comp store sales”.

All based on incredibly rosy projections of absolutely EVERYTHING breaking right. Which it rarely does. So the pyramid collapses in a blizzard of bad debt. But the senior execs drag it out until they can manage an escape with their golden parachutes.

[3Fingas]

The economy has been in a near depression since 2008 and the middle class is shrinking/dying for nearly 40 years. There are a lot of reasons for this economic decline. The retail world is very volatile and the Internet is causing many traditional stores to close their doors. But even in these terrible economic times, there are people who land on their feet. Workers with the right skills and willingness or ability to move are in great demand in the following fields: Oil /Natural gas fracking, IT/software development, Gun/ammo manufacturing, prepping/sufficiency movement. I have several friends all in IT have received numerous job offers, many in the low 6 figures. These fellows have degrees and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Math. if you have a degree in some useless major your options are more limited.