There are 1.2 million missing retail workers because

[Rupert]

Maybe the top 1% are to blame, we need attack them, tax them, make them suffer.

I dont believe it's their/our fault, its the societies fault. The structure is not balanced.  Which should be balanced better. That probably means Asia will continue to climb, and the west won't. As they learn stability.

As a cross over from the Famine thread, one of the hallmarks of a country with famine, is civil war. Now my understanding is the Civil War comes first.

So, at least in part we borrowed money from the same people who we bought stuff from

That is different, but does sound scarily familiar to what has happened between Greece and Germany.

[littleman]

One major difference between the Western debt held by Asia and the Greece-Germany situation is that Germany was able to pressure Greece into compliance. I don't think that there is much of a chance that the lenders in this case will be paid back in full between defaulting and currency pressures.

[Rupert]

I don't think that there is much of a chance that the lenders in this case will be paid back in full between

I think you could be right.  But that won't help world peace.

[Mackin USA]

LIST

http://www.jcpnewsroom.com/news-releases/2017/assets/0317_list_of_store_closures.pdf

[buckworks]

>> list_of_store_closures

I've been in more than one of those stores. Guess I shoulda spent more!

[Mackin USA]

U.S. retailers gathering at a conference beginning Sunday in Las Vegas will be looking for ways to deal with a problem that has no simple fix: too many stores.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/reach-across-the-aisle-mr-president-1489705420

https://www.wsj.com/articles/retail-store-bubble-has-burst-and-ceos-search-for-answers-1489838402 ^{fixed link}

[rcjordan]

>too many stores

You read it here first.

[Mackin USA]

NEWS TODAY

SEARS Warns of 'Substantial Doubt' About Company's Future...
PAYLESS Filing for Bankruptcy as Soon as Next Week...

[rcjordan]

>Payless

They were my anchor tenant (for 40 yrs) in the strip mall I dumped at a massive loss last August.

[nffc]

>anchor tenant (for 40 yrs)

>massive loss

....I'm sorry Dave does not compute

[rcjordan]

>compute

How so?

>massive loss

I sold a strip mall that was had a current appraised value of several million (and a massively over-appraised property tax value even higher) for $500k-ish.  I consider myself lucky to get out cash-positive.

[Drastic]

I was thinking about this yesterday after reading about Sears. As retail dies, so do retail real estate prices.

How long before it greatly affects commercial RE overall?

[rcjordan]

>greatly affects commercial RE overall?

I wouldn't call it greatly yet, but it's definitely well on the radar for anyone with a clue.  I'm not sure it's hitting dense urban areas yet, though. Some, probably, but shopping dynamics there are quite a bit different due to mass transit, smaller living spaces, etc.

But in small-towns and suburbia, where the ol' mall culture was king, it's starting to bite.

[rcjordan]

Bebe Reportedly Planning To Close All Its Stores, Focusing On Internet Sales

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/03/21/bebe-reportedly-closing-all-its-stores-focusing-on-internet-sales/

[Mackin USA]

I go back to where NFFC said:

"Thats where we are, what we have failed to do is adapt to this change, I think we need a fundamental reset"

He went on but IMFO we need a crash in order to begin AGAIN hopefully having learned by our mistakes.