Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Where you might not be shopping in 2012
Retail stores are still trying to recover in this recession and although things have improved, there is still a long road ahead for several stores. Approximately 3,000 stores closed in 2011 which was considerably better than the 5,000 lost in 2010. Stores such as Sears, J.C. Penny, and Gap are having a hard time recovering as they seem to struggle to change with the time and carry today's hottest accessories. We have seen the demise of Blockbuster over the years as we are in the transition of streaming video and actual DVD's are being purchased and used less and less. The general reasoning for the struggles of these stores are that they are simply struggling to keep up with the times and have not made nearly enough advances to compete with newer, more advanced businesses entering the markets.
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5 comments:
I think the last line of the article is quite important. We have to consider the closing of these stores in the context of restructuring and improvement. DVD rentals might have decreased but perhaps demand for online websites that provide movies like Netflix have probably increased. I think this reflects the component of capitalism that only businesses that are competitive and innovate from time to time are successful.
During the past holiday season, stores had much more sales than the past. Also it is interesting to notice that"Gap is shuttering a fifth of its U.S. flagship stores by year-end 2013. The figures don’t include outlet stores, which are increasing."
The market in US is absolutely more competitive during the economic recession, even though we are actually off the bottom.
Like the last line of the article said, closures do not always mean that a company is failing. However, in today's market, it seems, no matter how innovative a company may be, the "Wal-Marts" are always going to win out. People are moving away from buying products to support mom and pop shops, because the items are more expensive. Unfortunately, unless you are a name brand or a supermarket with great deals, our market is going to be a stuggle.
I think we also are seeing a lot of closing because our economy expanded too much and Americans were spending way too much on credit. Yes we are/were in a recession but I think the economy was correcting itself too, we opened to many stores and people were over spending.
It is clear that the retail industry continuously changing, and the store that keep up with the changing times remain successful. Are we seeing a general trend of department stores declining because consumer preferences have changed? Yes. consumers are looking more towards the convenience of shopping online in the comforts of their own home than to travel to the local department store.
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