Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
the pie keeps on breaking up in smaller and smaller pieces
as the beat goes on.....
if the government keeps slamming thru mandatory b.s. laws such as minimum wage...this is killing retail....
along with all of government taxes and regulations
in massachusettes
minimum wage is 11.00hr and mandatory time and a half on sundays...that's over 16.00 hr
for entry level low skilled positions,,,, the small businesses cant do this ,,this favors Walmart..
so.....when you have politicians making business decisions,,,the business may very well close
Have you ever looked at Eshakti? Its on-line, but they make a lot of dresses with sleeves.
But even better, you can add sleeves (of varying lengths) to most styles as well as change the neckline, the length, and add or remove pockets. You can also have items tailored by entering your measurements. Any alterations are only $10 total. Its pretty cool.
the pie keeps on breaking up in smaller and smaller pieces
as the beat goes on.....
if the government keeps slamming thru mandatory b.s. laws such as minimum wage...this is killing retail....
along with all of government taxes and regulations
in massachusettes
minimum wage is 11.00hr and mandatory time and a half on sundays...that's over 16.00 hr
for entry level low skilled positions,,,, the small businesses cant do this ,,this favors Walmart..
so.....when you have politicians making business decisions,,,the business may very well close
Mass is an extremely high cost of living state. They need a higher minimum wage than others. No one working close to a 40 hour week should live below the poverty line.
-----
In my experience places with population growth also have booming retail sectors, but areas where the population is stagnant or declining the retail sector responds quickly and shrivels up. Stores need an ever increasing volume of sales/customers, otherwise the managers are forced to cut costs to keep the store performing well against its peers which just leads to more declining sales do to poor customer service etc.
Also people's tastes change, cute boutiques are in. Big box is out.
I keep hearing about retail stores and malls closing left and right. I know that our own mall lost some of its big stores like JC Penny.
Is retail dying out fully or just shrinking? (i.e. it will stabilize later though many will close down in the meantime).
Yes, retail stores are in trouble and it will only get worse unless they can do something about it. It is a waste of time and costs to travel to a store to see they don't have the product you expect on the shelf. It is much easier and cheaper to go online and put those items in your shopping cart and have it delivered. This is why companies like Zappos which sells shoes online is so successful, because it is very frustrating to travel between shoe stores and wait while they looking for your size which isn't in stock.
The other part of it is customer service. The retail stores need to have much better customer service, because that would add value.
There will always be retail because retail is one of the social activites people enjoy most in life.
When you're bored on a rainy Sunday, you hit the shops. When you go to another city in the states or a foreign city, what is one of the things you do? You go hit the shops. On Christmas, part of the reason the shops are so packed is because it is a social activity.
Imagine if you visited San Francisco and all of the stores were gone...
Online shopping is nice and convenient and yes it has taken a chunk of retail away, but it will never completely die.
Not dying completely, but downsizing and consolidating. My home state of NJ used to have a dozen or so grocery chains competing against each other. Now there are only 2 major chains, the rest went under or were bought out by the strongest chains. Also many retailers are moving to cyberspace instead of brick and mortar.
Smaller boutique shops are doing well, but it's the bigger brick and mortars that are coming crashing down. I wouldn't set foot into a tj maxx, sears, etc because they're generally a mess. I'll shop on Amazon for the staples and smaller electronics - only time I go into a Best Buy is to get something big - I won't buy a TV without looking at it and BB is usually the same price as Amazon and I can take it home that day.
There are stores that I'll stop shop at locally, i.e Microcenter, wal-mart, clothes, etc...but that's about it.
Department store shopping is a joke. Everything is overpriced. You can get some good deals at outlets but even there some of the prices are ridiculous.
I used to think that. I actually found myself in a big box store the other day paying $100 less for a small appliance from Dilliard's then Amazon. I was pretty blown away. Store had 20% off the already discounted price. It was even cheaper then it was listed on Dilliard's own site.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
