AMZN & SHOP -Impact of Epic StoreClosing

Thinking this can only be positive for AMZN & SHOP.

If stores do close at the rate Credit Suisse is projecting, it could mean America will lose more than 147 million square feet of retail space this year.

Stores are closing at an epic pace
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/22/news/credit-suisse-retail/in…

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More very interesting statistics re: 2017 Brick & Mortar Retail Stores Closing:

At least 10 retailers, including apparel seller Limited Stores Co., electronics chain Hhgregg Inc. and sporting-goods chain Gander Mountain Co., have filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017 so far this year. That compares with nine retailers that declared bankruptcy, with at least $50 million liabilities, for all of 2016.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/brick-and-mortar-stores-are-shu…

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The ongoing loss of jobs created by accelerating closure of brick and mortar stores may actually bring more hurt than help to on-line sellers. The risk is that lost paychecks from rampant retail unemployment will eventually hit consumer spending and thus hurt both b&m and online sellers.
http://www.businessinsider.com/retail-job-losses-are-hurting…

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Thinking this can only be positive for AMZN & SHOP.

If stores do close at the rate Credit Suisse is projecting, it could mean America will lose more than 147 million square feet of retail space this year.

Stores are closing at an epic pace
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/22/news/credit-suisse-retail/in…

The problem with this reporting is a complete bias focus. It did not mention the disposition of such closings and the historical results. It’s quite natural for thousands of US businesses to close each year. But what of the space? CNN didn’t state 147 million square feet of retail space will go fallow (he he) and be left un-used. There’s no mention of chronic retail space not being used for another purpose. And where are the metrics used to confirm loss of retail jobs are dinging the BOL metrics to the point these loss jobs can not be transferred into another segment?

If you want thorough reporting and research, this article failed miserably.

Is retail B&M feeling a squeeze? IMO some segments…yeah. But are we looking at a despotic wasteland of retail spaces across the country? Well this article would have you think so.

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Yes the closings get more publicity than the openings that take place in the same mall
Most of these are smaller businesses , many of them will fail in turn.

Yet top line malls are still flourishing.

To me there is little doubt that online shopping is taking more and more of the business.
I am not into fashion and fad so today I buy almost everything except groceries online. Occasionally Wal Mart and very rarely Macy’s . Even then it may be at their WWW store.

For a good example look at Radio Shack. They offered what you can get at Amazon but at twice or triple the price. Advantage, you could get it now. But with Amazon you can get it in a day or two, good enough to take most of their customers. In addition it took two or more people to man the store ,and at least one of them had to have some knowledge of electronic parts and connectors. Color that expensive to run

Over the next two decades I expect the sector of B&M stores selling tangibles to shrink to half of it’s present size. Services outlets may grow, but only in the unlikely event that the middle class starts to come back.

I like to invest in expanding not shrinking industries, it puts the odds a bit more on my side.
So I will be keeping my AMZN and SHOP for the long haul.

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The problem with this reporting is a complete bias focus. It did not mention the disposition of such closings and the historical results. It’s quite natural for thousands of US businesses to close each year. But what of the space? CNN didn’t state 147 million square feet of retail space will go fallow

Agree. There could be many retail business closing and being replaced by other retail business. The figures may be overestimated. But I certainly believe there is a trend of more and more business being done online.

Chris

We in the US are “overstored”. We have about 5 times as many square feet of retail per capita as Europe and I have heard the discrepancy is even higher when measured against Asia.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinlewis/2015/03/17/retail-in…

Rob