PeanutButter Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/08/these-retailers-have-announced-store-closures-in-2019.html Gap, Tesla and Victoria's Secret are among the nearly 5,000 store closings already in 2019 Quote Gap, Victoria's Secret, J.C. Penney, Tesla and Abercrombie & Fitch. What do these companies have in common? They're all closing stores this year. Already, 4,810 store closures have been announced by retailers in 2019, according to Coresight Research. And it's only March. Last year, Coresight tracked 5,524 store closures, down more than 30 percent from a record 8,139 closures announced in 2017. Adding to the noise, Amazon said this week it will shut all 87 of its pop-up shops inside Whole Foods, Kohl's and malls across the country. But the company has vowed to invest more in its book stores and other bricks-and-mortar concepts, including its cashierless convenience store called Amazon Go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbeard Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Is *retail* dying? Of course not. Are *physical shops* dying? Of course. Newspapers have become online news, books have become Kindle downloads, music has become MP3 files, things that don't digitize (clothes, food etc) are bought by clicking online. It's the idea that to buy something you have to travel miles, fight your way through crowds, and then be forced to pick the only colour that they have in your size that's dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 9 minutes ago, scottbeard said: Is *retail* dying? Of course not. Are *physical shops* dying? Of course. Newspapers have become online news, books have become Kindle downloads, music has become MP3 files, things that don't digitize (clothes, food etc) are bought by clicking online. It's the idea that to buy something you have to travel miles, fight your way through crowds, and then be forced to pick the only colour that they have in your size that's dying. That's what I call retail - physical shops. I call online shopping online shopping, not retail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbeard Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: That's what I call retail - physical shops. I call online shopping online shopping, not retail. In that case you're mis-using the word "retail", which includes 'online shopping' as well. By your definition, I agree it's dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromage Frais Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 I remember going to a Sony shop/centre back in the day. I never bought anything from there but I would go there and see if I liked the products and then order later. I see this being the future the shops pay much less rates/rent as they will simply be physical displays where you can view touch and possibly collect items. They wont have the stock etc as they did before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 22 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: That's what I call retail - physical shops. I call online shopping online shopping, not retail. Tricky things, words. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 I don't think so. It is rationalising and changing. There will always be a place for some good quality experience based traditional retail. For those interested in the price of housing the opportunity is the potential conversation of former retail to residential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy2x3 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 started 70 years ago. when you walk through little towns and villages you see what used to be shops all over the place. the big diy stores killed off all the plumbers merchants, builders merchants etc. its interesting that at one time you would have a specific plumbing shop in a small town or village even. when the big diy chains came these amalgamated into a a general hardware store, but at one time these plumbers etc were a very closed shop where only qualified plumbers could buy plumbing things. the big diy chains changed all this completely. and on and on its went with all these shops in various parts of the town finally ending up only in the nain street/ high street. this has continued slowly over the years, villages now becoming completely void of shops, now its the turn of the high streets. even retail parks the destroyer of the high streets are feeling the effects. any smaller towns will die out completely and shopping in your local town will end up a couple of convience food and household stores and nothing else. everything else bought online and the online space is being taking over by a couple of mammoth conglomerates. the end game is basically about 5 companies ending up ruling the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 39 minutes ago, Dorkins said: Tricky things, words. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it. Keep using generic terms when specific ones are more accurate, you'll blah blah boring tired of rudeness now zzzzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 Looking at the wider context... How will the transition from physical retail to online shopping impact economies? What places with remain immune? (Anywhere without safe and efficient postal delivery?) Will communities shrivel and disappear as everyone retreats into their houses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: Looking at the wider context... How will the transition from physical retail to online shopping impact economies? What places with remain immune? (Anywhere without safe and efficient postal delivery?) Will communities shrivel and disappear as everyone retreats into their houses? The last one's my fear - we're already well down that path. Expect to see more large dull distribution centres. Novelty shops will probably remain - the type of place that sells tat to tourists in touristy places. Even with a shift to online food shopping I can see some food retail remaining, although maybe fewer large supermarkets. I can still see people wanting to pop out for a loaf of bread or milk. Anything where you need something now, so some DIY type places - waiting for a delivery isn't great if something needs fixing urgently and it's a simple DIY job. Economies and places - within the UK or wider afield? Again the touristy places are more likely to keep ordinary shops I suppose; if people are self-catering do they tend to order deliveries to where they're staying? I wouldn't buy clothes online. Trying then ordering seems a bit daft unless it's high value stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyguy Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 2 hours ago, scottbeard said: Is *retail* dying? Of course not. Are *physical shops* dying? Of course. Newspapers have become online news, books have become Kindle downloads, music has become MP3 files, things that don't digitize (clothes, food etc) are bought by clicking online. It's the idea that to buy something you have to travel miles, fight your way through crowds, and then be forced to pick the only colour that they have in your size that's dying. People are still buying - just on-line 1 hour ago, PeanutButter said: Looking at the wider context... How will the transition from physical retail to online shopping impact economies? What places with remain immune? (Anywhere without safe and efficient postal delivery?) Will communities shrivel and disappear as everyone retreats into their houses? Retail jobs will disappear replaced by machines in huge distribution centers (still some people here say automation will not take jobs however) Companies who get the online offering right will; make enormous profits as the overheads are hugely reduced (see amazon) No where is immune amazon have already got agreements with Morrisons that deliveries go the the store and are picked up by the buyer Community interaction is already disappearing as so many of the the younger generation are incapable of real communication with real people in real life situations. They have replaced going out and exploring in a park etc or playing sport if it is not organised for them by an adult and they are not dropped off and picked up by mummy and daddy, they do not meet for a beer. They are on a phone or tablet typing letters to people who are not real mates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 1 hour ago, happyguy said: Community interaction is already disappearing as so many of the the younger generation are incapable of real communication with real people in real life situations. They have replaced going out and exploring in a park etc or playing sport if it is not organised for them by an adult and they are not dropped off and picked up by mummy and daddy, they do not meet for a beer. They are on a phone or tablet typing letters to people who are not real mates. That's not my experience at all. This generation of kids is by far the smartest and most connected that's ever lived. If anything, it's their unimprovably stupid parents who are out of touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, zugzwang said: That's not my experience at all. This generation of kids is by far the smartest and most connected that's ever lived. If anything, it's their unimprovably stupid parents who are out of touch. Then why post evidence of them just latching on to whatever the latest cause is? That doesn't mean that they're wrong (although there's nothing to suggest that they won't carry on doing the same things that everyone else has done, growing up with the idea that horrible hardship isn't having to crap in a bucket, it's not having the latest electronic gizmo) but they come across as more prone to herd mentality than ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locke Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 12 minutes ago, zugzwang said: That's not my experience at all. This generation of kids is by far the smartest and most connected that's ever lived. If anything, it's their unimprovably stupid parents who are out of touch. Interesting to bring up the dinosaurs. Just like a giant asteroid, climate change is a space event, which humans have almost no effect on and therefore no control over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, Riedquat said: Then why post evidence of them just latching on to whatever the latest cause is? That doesn't mean that they're wrong (although there's nothing to suggest that they won't carry on doing the same things that everyone else has done, growing up with the idea that horrible hardship isn't having to crap in a bucket, it's not having the latest electronic gizmo) but they come across as more prone to herd mentality than ever. They're right. Just leave it at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 3 minutes ago, Locke said: Interesting to bring up the dinosaurs. Just like a giant asteroid, climate change is a space event, which humans have almost no effect on and therefore no control over. Climate change denier and a libertarian crank? Funny how those two always seem to go together! It must be some kind of herd thing. You're wrong about asteroid threats too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 (edited) 43 minutes ago, zugzwang said: They're right. Just leave it at that. Questionable, since they come across as "the end of the world is nigh!" types; we'll see whether they end up practising what they preach or whether they expect someone to come up with some fancy solution to everything that means that they don't actually have to do anything that they don't want to have to do. They could start by marching to school (how many of them don't have too far to travel but don't walk?) instead of marching when they're supposed to be at school. Edited March 12, 2019 by Riedquat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kirk Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 59 minutes ago, zugzwang said: That's not my experience at all. This generation of kids is by far the smartest and most connected that's ever lived. If anything, it's their unimprovably stupid parents who are out of touch. Hmm, not from my experience, unless you mean smart as in smart phone, i.e. mostly full of crap. I would say that the younger generation have had a more liberal upbringing and have worked out the solutions to the world's problems lie in socialism or communism or globalism. I think this is because 1) they like the idea of the state taking over the role of parents when they transition to adulthood and 2) they think they or the state has the power to control and change things, when that's not the case. Plus, all they have to do is think through their ideologies to realise how flawed they are. As for being connected, I'm not sure that has improved their lives much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 With this one I was really thinking about countries like UAE where a postal delivery service to your house simply doesn't exist, unless you're willing to pay for a courier. Ditto vast parts of Africa and presumably South America and Asia where levels of postal theft are high. Quote What places with remain immune? (Anywhere without safe and efficient postal delivery?) How does Amazon conquer somewhere with poor roads and no postal service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locke Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 59 minutes ago, zugzwang said: Climate change denier Yep and the Earth is flat and the USSR wasn't real Socialism Give it a rest, you only believe in anthropogenic global warming because it's a convenient excuse to expand the State and rob people more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 23 minutes ago, Riedquat said: Questionable, since they come across as "the end of the world is nigh!" types; we'll see whether they end up practising what they preach or whether they expect someone to come up with some fancy solution to everything that means that they don't actually have to do anything that they don't want to have to do. They could start by marching to school (how many of them don't have too far to travel but don't walk?) instead of marching when they're supposed to be at school. No. They're motivated, informed and organised. The threat of climate change is real and becoming more profound by the day but it's not yet insurmountable. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 19 minutes ago, Captain Kirk said: Hmm, not from my experience, unless you mean smart as in smart phone, i.e. mostly full of crap. I would say that the younger generation have had a more liberal upbringing and have worked out the solutions to the world's problems lie in socialism or communism or globalism. I think this is because 1) they like the idea of the state taking over the role of parents when they transition to adulthood and 2) they think they or the state has the power to control and change things, when that's not the case. Plus, all they have to do is think through their ideologies to realise how flawed they are. As for being connected, I'm not sure that has improved their lives much. Free market capitalism fell over and died ten years ago. Repeated attempts to resurrect the corpse have also failed. Austerity is all these kids have ever known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 23 minutes ago, zugzwang said: No. They're motivated, informed and organised. The threat of climate change is real and becoming more profound by the day but it's not yet insurmountable. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant I'm not a climate change denier (although the complete-armaggedon-end-of-everything aspect that some harp on about is scaremongering). But these kids are just latching on to whatever the latest trendy cause is, I don't see any reason to believe that they've got any answers to it and that they won't just become another part of the problem they're harping on about; they seem to think it'll get solved by someone else waving a magic wand that'll make everyone behave in a manner that they see as responsible, without them having to give up anything they want. Now I'm not going to have much of a go at people for raising issues without having answers - if no-one did that you'd never have answers, so anyone who says "what are you going to do about it then?" is a bloody idiot - but would they be prepared to give much up to achieve what they claim they want, or will they, like so many others, end up trotting out reasons why having whatever gimmick they like isn't actually the problem, it needs to be things other people do that have to stop? Try asking them whether population growth should be curtailed, if people who have lots of children are being very irresponsible... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kirk Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 54 minutes ago, zugzwang said: Free market capitalism fell over and died ten years ago. Repeated attempts to resurrect the corpse have also failed. Austerity is all these kids have ever known. No, it was crony capitalism that fell over and died. Otherwise, you are correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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