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America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

bloomberg.com

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Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#81

Post by seanc »

pascalxus wrote: post #60

Malls hold no interest for me whatsoever. There's nothing there worthwhile, other than employment. Malls have nothing: no libraries, no Good Cafes, no places to hang out, no parks, no museums, no zoos, limited live music, no outdoors. And the few things it does have: like some book stores and places to eat, are all engineered to get you in and out and back to the Mall's singular focus: Spend, spend, spend: shop till…

The irony is that they were originally supposed to provide all of those things:

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-gruen-effect/

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#82

Post by emodendroket »

pascalxus wrote: post #60

Malls hold no interest for me whatsoever. There's nothing there worthwhile, other than employment. Malls have nothing: no libraries, no Good Cafes, no places to hang out, no parks, no museums, no zoos, limited live music, no outdoors. And the few things it does have: like some book stores and places to eat, are all engineered to get you in and out and back to the Mall's singular focus: Spend, spend, spend: shop till…

This isn't really limited to malls.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#83

Post by munificent »

eternalban wrote: post #59
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it help if you considered that if over 6000 stores closed, it is very likely the majority are small stored and not big chains? From what I saw in Bloomberg article it was 550/6000 are chain stores. That leaves significantly more to small shops that are trying to provide employment and selling worthwhile goods to their local communities. For example here in buffalo we have small stores for spiritual goods that a…

> stores ... that also serve as community centers ... Historically, public markets have also provided a platform for important non-commercial informal civic interactions. The review section of e.g. Amazon doesn't seem to cut it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazaar

> The review section of e.g. Amazon doesn't seem to cut it.

True, but neither does the strip mall surrounding a Best Buy parking lot.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#84

Post by wil421 »

irrational wrote: post #12
Retric wrote: post #3

Retail is dependent on consumer spending. As more stores close the remainder should be more profitable, which should minimize ripple effects.

Do you still shop in brick and mortar stores? Other than food (groceries and restaurants) and sometimes clothing, I haven't shopped in a brick and mortar store in so long that I can't even remember when was the last time. It's just so easy to buy things online, even small one off purchases. The other day I needed some AAA batteries so I just hopped on Amazon and ordered them and they showed up a day later. I probably…

Most of the time smaller items like AAA are more expensive online than say Lowe’s, Walmart, or Costco. For me I will always choose the cheaper option which has been brick and mortor.

I will never order groceries. Picking my meat and fresh produce is something I will never outsource. Especially if it is more expensive.

I order online because it is usually cheaper for electronic accessories and books.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#85

Post by bsenftner »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #23
hprotagonist wrote: post #2

in general, it is difficult for me to separate a reasonable concern borne of the knowledge that a thriving economy is important from a sense that, so far, the big retail chains that are closing many locations sell junk that i both do not want and think is largely superfluous anyway. Anyone got a reasonable way to synthesize those competing thoughts?

It is general market dynamics that at times stores will have things that don't sell. Whether or not "you" find them useful or not is a different story, sometimes a store will be doing well selling things you might find useless, simply because you are not the target market. The confluence of events that the article alludes to are that many retail stores went through a period of consolidation and buyout through leverag…

Plus, the strategists that put these retail chains in this debt are no longer there actively working on strategy within this mess. There is more profit for them, personally, working on other deals. Net result, the "rock-stars" set up a mess, pull huge gains from the table, then leave the 2nd or 3rd team to navigate a very difficult debt load they left behind.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#86

Post by hkmurakami »

pascalxus wrote: post #60

Malls hold no interest for me whatsoever. There's nothing there worthwhile, other than employment. Malls have nothing: no libraries, no Good Cafes, no places to hang out, no parks, no museums, no zoos, limited live music, no outdoors. And the few things it does have: like some book stores and places to eat, are all engineered to get you in and out and back to the Mall's singular focus: Spend, spend, spend: shop till…

Stanford Shopping Center and the Santa Monica downtown thing (I forget what it's called) are very close to what you describe.

What malls do have is space, and that kind of large space owned by a single entity is rare these days within a reasonable travel time away. Redevelopment potential is definitely there.

Also, a professor of mine once wondered why we don't have great public spaces like they do in Europe. Then he realized that we do -- in the form of college campuses.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#87

Post by Cidan »

pascalxus wrote: post #60

Malls hold no interest for me whatsoever. There's nothing there worthwhile, other than employment. Malls have nothing: no libraries, no Good Cafes, no places to hang out, no parks, no museums, no zoos, limited live music, no outdoors. And the few things it does have: like some book stores and places to eat, are all engineered to get you in and out and back to the Mall's singular focus: Spend, spend, spend: shop till…

> Let's make towns have downtowns, with beautiful brick roads, scenic ponds with some ducks, perhaps a waterfall, some nice cafes, a lawn with benches, some parks, some nature, trees, live music, a library and museums.

You would think! I live in Santa Monica, California, and we have exactly that in our downtown area. The retail shop turnover is insane -- a large amount of shops come and go from the area, despite the massive amount of foot traffic the area sees every weekend (and most weekdays during the summer).

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#88

Post by emodendroket »

fhood wrote: post #79
pascalxus wrote: post #60

Malls hold no interest for me whatsoever. There's nothing there worthwhile, other than employment. Malls have nothing: no libraries, no Good Cafes, no places to hang out, no parks, no museums, no zoos, limited live music, no outdoors. And the few things it does have: like some book stores and places to eat, are all engineered to get you in and out and back to the Mall's singular focus: Spend, spend, spend: shop till…

I agree with you 95%. But 5% of me recognizes that certain items require a test run before purchase. In my case those would be Audio equipment, instruments and tennis rackets. None of those can be confidently purchased solely on the impressions of others.

You know, people said that about furniture and clothes and now people buy them online without a second thought.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#89

Post by gremlinsinc »

Retric wrote: post #3

Retail is dependent on consumer spending. As more stores close the remainder should be more profitable, which should minimize ripple effects.

Do you still see this as the likelihood if as predicted by many futurists that 40% of jobs are displaced completely by 2030, and no sort of safety net like guaranteed basic income instituted?

I personally think we're headed for a crash that's more than just a depression but something on a whole different level. Dependent of course on automation / job losses / politics between now and 2030.

Re: America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

#90

Post by ninkendo »

Danihan wrote: post #6

imo this comes down to centralization and the popularity of "big box" stores. People generally don't want to go to a specialty store anymore, the toy section at Walmart is fine.

Interesting thought. I actually hate big stores because I have to walk a huge distance to find the right section, it’s harder to find the thing I want, they’re more crowded, they’re more likely to be understaffed (30 checkout lines with 2 cashiers is very common)... It’s typically a much bigger waste of time than going to a small store.

But I’m definitely a purposeful shopper: I’m always in and out with one goal in mind, I never “browse”. Maybe wal-mart and the like are more attractive to people who just kinda want to browse around and kill time?

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