“The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person....”
That might be the problem.
Then there is Amazon.
And Costco stores do not seem to be closing.
That is EXACTLY the problem, and it tells me we would likely be seeing a lot of store closures even if e-commerce didn't exist.
I've worked with real estate economists who have been warning about this for years. I remember one of them telling me that the U.S. had a fairly consistent ratio of about 10 square feet of retail space per capita from the 1940s until the 1980s, but then retail construction got completely out of hand and this figure got as high as the upper 20s until a few years ago.
The reality we're facing here is that we simply don't need all the retail space that has been constructed in this country over the last 30+ years.
By being a membership store they gain two advantages:
1) They keep the feral youths out, and
2) Much lower shoplifting both from (1) and from higher-class customers.
Man oh man, around the Houston area, find a few thousand acres and the dedgum developers will latch hold of it and every square inch they can lay concrete...they will. Then comes the Walgreens.....and the rest.
Oh, did I mention, a Messy-can restaurant on every street corner? I like Messy-can food like the rest of’em, but it's a lil ridiculous.
“And Costco stores do not seem to be closing.”
Costco has a business model that works. People shop where they have a perception of good value. The stores mentioned have been effing their customers for years, so it isn’t surprising that they are going out of business
Now if only the major newspapers would go under, life would be good and we’d be saving millions of trees at the same time.
“The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person....”
That’s room enough for two average sized adults to lie down and sleep.