Post by robeiae on Apr 17, 2017 8:59:42 GMT -5
Is the retail industry--in the US--at a tipping point? That's the question this piece at the NYT asks.
From it:
Remember when it was all about the big box stores killing off smaller retail stores. But as we know--we have threads on this--the big stores are feeling the heat, as well. Sears and K-Mart are dying off. Target has seen a drop in sales and revenue, and Wal-Mart is perhaps less secure than it's been in quite some time (profits are down, largely because it's trying hard to grow its online business). And chain stores are not much better off, from Gamestop to The Limited.
And this is in interesting stat:
Around here, malls are largely empty these days, even on weekends, aside from those who cater to international visitors. Strip malls have tons of vacant spaces and many now seem to be primarily occupied by restaurants (because let's face it, the population keeps going up).
My Easter brunch actually turned into a discussion on this very topic. My kids generally no longer want to go shopping at malls, at all. They used to love walking around to just window shop. Not so much, anymore. Why there is something that they want/need, they don't ask to go to the store, they ask me to "order this on Amazon."
When kids lose interest, does that mean it's over?
From it:
Along the cobblestone streets of SoHo, Chanel handbags and Arc’teryx jackets are displayed in shops like museum pieces, harking back to the height of the neighborhood’s trendiness. But rents there are softening, and the number of vacant storefronts is rising...
E-commerce players, led by the industry giant Amazon, have made it so easy and fast for people to shop online that traditional retailers, shackled by fading real estate and a culture of selling in stores, are struggling to compete. This shift has been building gradually for years. But economists, retail workers and real estate investors say it appears that it has sped up in recent months.
Between 2010 and 2014, e-commerce grew by an average of $30 billion annually. Over the past three years, average annual growth has increased to $40 billion.
E-commerce players, led by the industry giant Amazon, have made it so easy and fast for people to shop online that traditional retailers, shackled by fading real estate and a culture of selling in stores, are struggling to compete. This shift has been building gradually for years. But economists, retail workers and real estate investors say it appears that it has sped up in recent months.
Between 2010 and 2014, e-commerce grew by an average of $30 billion annually. Over the past three years, average annual growth has increased to $40 billion.
And this is in interesting stat:
More workers in general merchandise stores have been laid off since October, about 89,000 Americans. That is more than all of the people employed in the United States coal industry, which President Trump championed during the campaign as a prime example of the workers who have been left behind in the economic recovery.
My Easter brunch actually turned into a discussion on this very topic. My kids generally no longer want to go shopping at malls, at all. They used to love walking around to just window shop. Not so much, anymore. Why there is something that they want/need, they don't ask to go to the store, they ask me to "order this on Amazon."
When kids lose interest, does that mean it's over?