Why can’t traditional retailers remain profitable? Well there are many reasons one has to do with rising employee costs due to ObamaCare but that’s just another fire hose in the bucket – increased regulations have also taken their toll and the problem of course , is the growth with Online. Retailers. How did things get so bad? Well, in their rush for profit, these big name brand retailers started selling us substandard Chinese-made products, dressing them up nicely with well-done marketing.

When I started writing this article, life events interrupted me several times; Christmas, Family, New Years, California Storms, Yard Work, etc. and every time he put it off for another day, there was another unfortunate story on the news; Bloomberg Business News, CNBC, Wall Street Journal or NYT, LA Times or Washington Post Business Section, from other downsizing, downsizing or bankruptcy in retail: store closings, vendor laundering, employee layoffs – you’re not looking too good, unless you are an online retailer. let’s talk yes?

Why did that strategy fail? At first it wasn’t, but if these retailers are going to sell us cheap imported products, then people will buy on price, and once consumers start doing that, Sears, Macy’s and other big retailers won’t be able to compete because of their higher cost structure, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, well, takes no prisoners; “mercy is not expected, it is not granted”, pattern.

There were a couple of interesting articles, one in Total Retail in or around the first week of 2017. The first was headlined; “Sears to Close 150 More Stores, Sell Craftsman Brand,” and the second was in the Wall Street Journal “Macy’s, Kohl’s Hit by Weak Holiday Sales: Macy’s to Cut More Than 10,000 Jobs, Close Stores; Targets for Kohl’s lowest profits.”

On January 6, 2017, the Washington Post published an article titled; “The Limited is closing all 250 of its stores,” written by Sarah Halzack. There is an interesting video on YouTube titled; “MUST SEE! 10 Reasons The World Economy Is Collapsing In 2017 – NEW”, which indicated that Sam’s Club was also closing many less than optimal stores, again 10,000 job cuts there.

Suffice it to say that retail isn’t working, those old business models won’t be viable in the future, they just can’t compete with the efficiency of online retail, no way, no way, now what? Well, they say the only constant is change, but how much short-term change can our economy handle? Sure, those aren’t great jobs, and most are now only part-time, but those job losses are real, and they really affect real lives. Please consider all this, and don’t hesitate – be cool.