Dying Retailers

Retail trade is changing fast. The old mall system, for example, is near in ICU in the United States and in Europe.  Most of the reasons for the way shoppers buy changing is because they now buy on line and with those "apps" that enchant them. Marketers see the consumer is more likely to buy on line with his or her technology, of they can be convinced the item is sold at a good price.

By the end of 2017, 20 retail chains, including Radio Shack, Toys R Us, and HH Gregg  filed for bankruptcy. Some still operate and others were liquidated and are gone forever,  and some were reorganized and are gasping for life and some were liquidated. When I think of Toy's R Us disappearing it is somewhat of a shock. When my daughter was small I practically showered that store with money, buying the endless Barbie dolls and other little girl toys that all little girls pressure their parents to supply.

So which big retail American companies might be next to fall by the wayside? Here are a few:
Sears- The one time giants of American department stores and catalogue sales is broke. Sears has survived  the last few years, barely so, only by selling off assets and borrowing money. But now even vendors are refusing to supply to Sears, customers are beginning to complain that the merchandise for sale is "cheap" and Sears is in no position to  do anything to stop the bleeding.

J.C. Penny- Started by James Cash Penny in Minnesota more than 100 years ago, J.C. Penny was the Wal mart of household goods for generations. You could buy anything at Penny's. Though Penny's has tried to get into the on line sales platform as it loses money faster than it can count it , it appears too late and too little for customers who are mostly younger and unaware of the glorious past of J.C. Penny.

Claire's- Claire's, a mall staple, was the first choice of little girls until about 8 years ago. I remember taking my daughter there to have her ear pierced and coming home with lots of cute kid jewelry. But kids were turned off of Claire's and onto their technology years ago. Today's little tech kids girls just don't want the things that Claire's sells.

Charlotte Russe- Charlotte Russe has struggled because it is a mall based store in an age of lower foot traffic. Also the clothes it sells can be had on line from on line clothing retailers. clothing sales have moved online, meaning mall stalwarts for kids like J. Crew and Charlotte Russe just don't have a large enough customer case anymore.

Payless, Nine West and many other shoe sellers- For whatever reason, many consumers aren't buying shoes as often from brick and mortar stores. Too, the show market has been flooded with competitors and the market pie now is too small.

GNC and Vitamin World- The failure of these nutritional stores is due to cheap on line competitors. Consumers have not been scared away from on line sellers products because they are much less expensive to buy.

Barnes and Noble- The world's biggest bookseller is losing to on line, book pads and the simple fact that fewer people read anything these days, well, anything more than Tweets and smarmy social media web sites.

In almost all cases the consuming influence of technology is as much the result of the change in retail as anything else. And that's not likely to abate in the future.