http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/01/07/Macys-announces-closure-of-36-stores-layoffs-after-slow-holiday-sales/4551452177915/
Better article, with some stats for US retail
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-macys-retail-20160108-story.html
I have not been to a MALL in years!!! 8)
Wow, foot traffic is dying..
Even before Amazon was a force, American retail was expanding at ridiculous rate that many considered unsustainable (retail area per capita being more inflated that the P/E ratios of the .com boom)
Here's a 2003 article from the Forbes archive
QuoteIn 1986 there were 28,496 shopping centers in the U.S., boasting 3.5 billion square feet of space. Today there are 46,438 malls and such with 5.8 billion square feet of space.
http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/10/13/350907/index.htm
Of course most of this was completed or greenlighted before anyone believed people would ever buy shoes by logging into their computers at home...
I'm not sure what is changing what: are our shopping habits changing to adapt to buying online or is our buying habits making buying in a mall irrelevant? Probably a bit of both.
Example clothes: if all you wear is hoodies and baggy jeans or cargo shorts t-shirts and flip-flops there is no compelling reason to go to a mall store.
Uniqueness and quality: Once upon a time high end department stores (eg. Marshall Fields) sold noticeably better brands, higher quality merchandise. But over time the high quality labels either cheapened down or disappeared and everything started being made off-shore. There isn't that much difference between the stuff you buy at Target and the stuff you buy at Macy's - in fact it might be the exact same. Now enter Amazon where you can get the exact same thing even cheaper without leaving your couch. Bang. Sears is selling the exact same thing as Walmart. Bang.
Mall experience: Once the packed crowds of middle class shoppers abandon the malls it seems like gangs of youths start taking over. For shoppers, especially women, there is nothing worse than being in a nearly empty mall and having to run a gauntlet of 20 young males being loud, pushing each other, cat calls - not really breaking the law but not making the mall experience positive. The shopper won't be back. That is part of the downward spiral. The malls and anchor department stores start declining hand in hand.
Plus what ergophobe said.
I think you hit on the
QuoteSears is selling the exact same thing as Walmart. Bang.
.
Am I the only one who get fed up of buying crap? If I buy tent pegs, I should not expect them to break when I hit them.
they look like tent pegs, but they are not.
Christmas lights.. bought 8 packs, all string together. Sending 4 back. knackered because it rained. I thought these were " outside lights"
I am looking for a shop that does not sell crap, and does not charge the earth. Part of the problem with that is the retail pricing model.
Retailers generally do not look at the profit per item, but they mark up by a % in the UK.
Phew, that felt like a rant!
Fing Christmas lights.
They never last 2 seasons.
What's up with THAT
:'(
Quote from: Rupert on January 09, 2016, 08:49:11 AM
I think you hit on the QuoteSears is selling the exact same thing as Walmart. Bang.
.
Am I the only one who get fed up of buying crap?
No, you are not alone. About 1 in 3 kids toys we buy seems to either be faulty or broken within a week (not down to abuse either). Things we buy for the house don't seem to have a much better success rate either.
did I read this here?
http://www.theonion.com/article/chinese-factory-worker-cant-believe-the-shit-he-ma-1343
QuoteFENGHUA, CHINA—Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the "sheer amount of shit Americans will buy."
Case in point: Bought a new toaster at the weekend to replace our 10 year old one. Used it twice. Now half of it isnt working.
That'll be another 90 minute round trip to get it replaced at the weekend then.