The growth of Amazon has more to do with the technological changes in HOW consumers purchase and have their goods delivered, but does little to explain the phenomenal growth of Dollar General stores that grew exponentially after the recession. Retail growth markets are currently polarized and any substantial growth that does occur happens in high end, luxury stores and in the dollar stores. Here’s an interesting chart from Pew Research that illustrates this fact:
And here’s something about “retail bifurcation” (retail growth in the upper class and lower class markets, but relatively flat in the middle class market) from Deloitte that tracks these sorts of things:
So while the stalwart stores of yesterday, that catered exclusively to the middle class fall like dominoes, it doesn’t mean that your local Walmart or Target will be following suit anytime soon. It just means that the remaining stores will become more competitive in a tighter market and fight even harder for middle class, consumer dollars. I wouldn’t hold my breath for Dillard’s, Hamrick’s, or Belk’s though.
Data too old to use today. Post all you want but Amazon sells to middle class and everybody else. Call it technology or sales but when its bought on Amazon they don't buy it from brick and morted.
No ****. The one I quoted wasn't. The thread is about mall closing, not where the middle class status is. Just a reminder.
The OTHER article supports the claim you tried to dismiss due to the age of the data. That is a factor in mall closing because the lower and middle class do not have the buying power they once had ... no buying power, lower sales, lower profits, financial problems for the stores. US retail sales https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes...-innovate-will-never-go-extinct/#3454f60d790a The Retail Apocalypse Is Not Happening: Why Retailers That Innovate Will Never Go Extinct
Store closings are directly related to middle class purchasing power, especially if we are talking about formerly middle class stores like Sears, J.C. Penney’s, and Kmart which were once thriving back in the day.
What we haven’t touched on here is the fact that since the recession, the shopping habits of middle class Americans have changed. Certainly, some people have discovered the convenience of Amazon, but the income of Amazon shoppers tend to skew a bit higher, especially Amazon Prime members, who are mostly upper middle-class consumers and the downright wealthy. As always, the real story of the middle class is in the statistics of the explosive retail growth markets that include the aforementioned Dollar General Stores, and discount chains such as TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross, etc. I won’t even go into the explosive growth markets of secondary retail markets like the Goodwill and other thrift stores. In recent years, the growth of these stores have gone through the roof, and have attracted more middle class shoppers since the recession. So what does this all mean? It means that as middle class wages have fallen flat, shoppers tend to spread their dollars around looking for the best deals in discount stores, and online - pretty much the death knell of any traditional department store. Just ask Sears, Kmart, and J.C. Penney’s. Increasingly, today’s middle class shopper might buy their cereal at a Dollar General, purchase a coffeemaker on Amazon, splurge on some sale earrings at Kohl’s, then turnaround and buy a name brand shirt at the Goodwill. That’s the reality of today’s middle class shopper, and the retail and consumer statistics bear this story out.
Well, Jumping Jiminy. You make it sound like I’m posting just for the sake of posting. I’m not. I’m telling the actual story of what has happened to the retail markets since the recession and how consumers, especially the middle class, have adapted to the changing retail landscape in order to stretch their dollars and STAY in the middle class, due to flat wages. I have a ton of respect for the ingenuity of any American who is trying to get the most value for their money, especially if they are raising a family.
As you indicated, for a lot of businesses it is Amazon and its competitors. The attached article used Petsmart and Petco as examples and these folks are showing signs of struggling with the online Amazon sales. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...f-struggling-u-s-retailers-faces-a-tough-2019
Yes and I'm as guilty as the next. I may go look at something, think about it and then order it instead of returning to the store to get it.
Good article on Sears and why it failed. Not Cary Town related, but that Sears was one of the early closings. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...e-american-shopper/ar-BBUO2bk?ocid=spartanntp
Oh really? Thought that they closed the store a LONG time ago. Did you hear that JCPenneys is closing too?
I said that the Sears in Cary was one of the early closings, several years go now. Yes that Penny's is closing too.
