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America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

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

#241

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 but when I go to the malls in Santa Clara and San Jose (they have food courts close to where I work at times) the malls are surprisingly crowded with usual suspects of teenagers/mothers with children/older possibly retired people/people like me.

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

#243

I live near Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and they could not be any busier. It's packed at 2pm on a Tuesday when I'm going to an eye doctor appointment. On the weekends there are often traffic issues in from people entering and leaving. I feel like it's not that malls or retailers are dying, but instead all the revenue is going to a few places with wealthy, urban locations. Perhaps this has to do with the i…

#1: Buckhead is an affluent residential neighborhood, that turned into a startup hub and investment banker district in a couple of decades... but hasn't changed the "residential neighborhood" infrastructure. There are 24/7 traffic issues even when Lenox is closed. #2: The Atlanta metro had about two-dozen thriving malls a couple of decades ago. Today there's, what? Lenox/Phipps, Perimeter, maybe Cumberland (?). Mall…

North Dekalb mall is a great example of an almost dead mall. It has a movie theater that I visited for a Tmobile Tuesday.

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

#244
post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know all you alpha-nerds just never want to leave the house and could live in a 20foot square cube and sit on the toilet with your laptop while only consuming auto-delivered soylent and a caffeine IV drip for all you care, but let me help you all out with a little in understanding this retail thing: Retail is mostly about entertainment now, primarily for women. Women like to shop for clothes and try stuff on. They…

>Retail is mostly about entertainment now Yeah, I can see that. > weird outdated stereotypes and condescending tone Please don't.

It is true that women have higher social integration than men. IKEA, which is a glorified warehouse for the home, adds social value with a cafeteria, a deli and childcare. You do not see that at Home Depot.

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

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> junk that i both do not want and think is largely superfluous anyway. I'm reminded of an article I read last year about parents buying presents for kids at Christmas. In the 90s it was easy. The kid wanted a thing. A gaming device, a dress, or a car... there was an object that the kid wanted to own. That object was sold at a store. But today's kids don't want things. They have the iPhone. What they want is 50,000…

I think they still want things, just happen to be more "experience" related, which are more expensive. International travel, expensive restaurants, "off the beaten" path type adventures, performances etc are all in vogue, and all are good for displaying status on Snapchat and Facebook. A $50 toy isn't good for that, and the younger kids probably find more enjoyment in using phones or with video games.

I think that this must be isolated in specific communities. Keep in mind that the "average American" rarely leaves their state.

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

#246

I live near Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and they could not be any busier. It's packed at 2pm on a Tuesday when I'm going to an eye doctor appointment. On the weekends there are often traffic issues in from people entering and leaving. I feel like it's not that malls or retailers are dying, but instead all the revenue is going to a few places with wealthy, urban locations. Perhaps this has to do with the i…

#1: Buckhead is an affluent residential neighborhood, that turned into a startup hub and investment banker district in a couple of decades... but hasn't changed the "residential neighborhood" infrastructure. There are 24/7 traffic issues even when Lenox is closed. #2: The Atlanta metro had about two-dozen thriving malls a couple of decades ago. Today there's, what? Lenox/Phipps, Perimeter, maybe Cumberland (?). Mall…

Just curious ...what are the "pre Ray Lewis" days? He never played in Atlanta and isn't from there....

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

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the America that will result from this die-off is a better place. Less suburban sprawl. Less giant eyesore big-box stores that no one enjoys spending time in. More informed purchases because people buy stuff online where it's easier to compare reviews. But I think there will be significant, very painful collateral damage to people during this transition and I've very sympathetic to people hit by the job losse…

>> More informed purchases because people buy stuff online where it's easier to compare reviews. I was wondering about this forcing stores to provide more expertise and more flexible inventory. In my town 2 stores in a specific industry went out of business 3 years ago and made a big deal in the papers about how too many people were buying direct from manufacturers instead of visiting their store. I had been to both…

The risk with this approach is that you become a showroom for Amazon.

I knew a guy who ran a shoe store and provided a high level of personalized service when selecting the right shoe for your feet, gait, use, etc. Hiring and training employees who were knowledgeable enough to do that, plus having to spend a lot more time with each customer, made it a lot more expensive to sell shoes, and when Amazon and other online retailers started offering shoes for a lot lower prices (because they didn't have to provide the same level of personalized service), he eventually went out of business because people would come into his store and have him help them find the right shoe, then go home and order it for 20% cheaper or whatever.

If you are a consumer, it seems rational to go somewhere and try something on, get expert advice about it, etc, then go purchase it wherever it is least expensive. Why pay 20 or 30% more or whatever for the same thing? Some sort of unwritten social contract (this is usually the reason I don't use local stores as showrooms)? Time sensitivity? As a retailer who goes this route, you kind of have to pin your hopes on those things.

Showrooming is a real problem, and retailers are faced with the decision of trying to add value and hope people end up buying there even though it costs more money, or trying to cut costs in every possible way to compete on price, and I don't know that it's an easy choice all of the time.

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

#248

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…

One of my local malls has a library branch in it, actually. And it's adjacent to a large park. That said, this isn't typical.

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

#249
The free market in action. Retail outlets are simply not equipped to handle the tastes of the modern consumer. It is an industry that saw huge growth in the 80's and 90's and has not been able to keep up with technology. As the segment of the population that still exclusively shops brick-and-mortar ages, unless these businesses can evolve and modernize they will continue to fail. Tough break, but its ultimately better for the consumer. Retail jobs are some of the worst ones to have too, so as long as the gross job counts are replaced then good riddance.

There are real problems that brick-and-mortar solve though, mainly having instant tactile demos of products, like holding an iPhone at the Apple store or trying on clothes. Future businesses will figure out how to combine the two approaches into a profitable business model. Trunk club is a good, if expensive, example.

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

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in eastern Canada and I agree with your weather statement. With 100km/h winds, -25C and 1m of snow it's not worth going out. I wish we had a subway system here and underground shops. Montreal and Toronto have huge indoor shopping areas connected by subway, I suppose technically they are malls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto)

So, growing up in the midwest, there is a museum dedicated to the area. It's on Main Street in the biggest town in the area. It's basement, which is now just used for storage, was part of an entire underground Main Street. You can still see the storefronts with the big windows and such down there. Apparently it stretched along most of downtown, mirroring the above.

This sounds fascinating - where is this, if you don't mind me asking?
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