Sunday, March 16, 2014
Bargain Retail Taking Over
Nearly everyone in America would say that the Great Recession of 2008 affected them in one way or another. This reigns true today for many "large, old retailers" such as JCPenny and Sears. This article discusses the shift from large anchor stores, such as JCP and Sears, to bargain retailers, specifically big box stores, such as TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack. This shift is likely caused by consumers hesitation to spend full price on practically anything, and the satisfaction of buying items at a reduced price. The pain consumers are still feeling from the recession is not likely to disappear any time soon. Are we still in a recession? I believe not, but it is hard to change the minds of consumers as a whole. "In 2013 nearly 10,500 new retail stores opened, compared with about 2,600 closures, according to Factset research." (MacLaughlin, 2014) This is simply a shift in buying styles and will cause businesses to close as well as others to open. The market is the midwife and the undertaker.
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2 comments:
I agree that while we are out of the heat of the recession, consumers are definitely still concerned and monitor their spending closely. I found the numbers to be much greater than anticipated, but also speak to the mindset of many consumer groups; buying at a discount is more rewarding than purchasing at full market price. Larger "box stores" offer consumers the thrill of price hunting in one location. I don't think "anchor stores" will ever phase out, but I do think it will be interesting to see what happens in the next decade. Will box stores continue to grow? Or will anchor stores regain strength?
I also was not surprised with the increase of bargain shopping as apposed to anchor stores. I am curious to see if a new type of store will come out of this shift because of how many more bargain stores are emerging. Nordstrom has Nordstrom Rack so I predict more stores similar to Nordstrom will develop these bargain version of their stores with marked down prices of merchandise. I believe anchor stores will still remain but there will be increases in versions of the bargain stores.
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