As I drive through the city I live in, which has a population of just over 45,000 people. I can't help but notice it is starting to look like a Ghost Town. There are currently 48 buildings larger than 10,000 square feet that are vacant. It literally has an eerie feeling to it.
That picture was taken on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm. But thats not the only one, here are a few more.
So Many shops have closed up and left, some Major but a lot of them are local.
So whats causing this eerie feeling of real life Ghost Town? I am not 100% for sure, but I can tell you what's not helping.
So you might ask how is Amazon affecting this, well it's no big surprise that Amazon is the worlds largest retailer. With a 2018 annual sales of 141.92 billion dollars an increase of over 30 billion from 2017. Online sales for 2018 where 513.61 billion. So as you can see Amazon has over a third of total online sales. Now to some this may seem like a good thing. It's not even close to being a good thing. How Many people do you know who work at Amazon? I know more than I should and probably more than most. I know of 10 people that work for Amazon or one of its sister companies. If it wasn't for whole foods, I wouldn't know any. Now I will ask you the serious question, How Many people do you know that have lost their job because a retail company closed?
Now you would think this would be helping out one major employer, the post office. Well you are right and wrong, I have lived in my town for over 25 years and have been here since we had a 10,000 population. So I know a few people here and there. Well the post office is getting rapped by the Amazon seekers. Per a little information provided by my area Post Master 1 in five families in my county have had an Amazon Package delivered to them. Of that 1 in five a quarter of them have had A Package delivered on Sunday. Plus Amazon doesnt follow the same shipping prices that you and I have to pay, it much less......
As A whole the world has become very Lazy, We have turned to the power of technology and embraced it so much that we are not seeing the effects of it. We have online sales, we have services such as waiter, or uber eats, we have grocery stores that you can order online and they will bring it right out to your vehicle. We have lost the since of community and what it takes to make one survive.
Now being a stacker and a somewhat prepper, I am expecting a economic collapse, but do we have to speed it up ourselves? You will need the local mom and pop store during a collapse, they will be the ones to help. But I am afraid they will not be around during the next collapse.
So I say No, No more clicking of the button except for one thing.
I know its easy, but it doesn't help anyone. It sure doesn't help the community or town you live in. Trust me when I say the collaspe is coming, we do not need to get it here faster than it is intended.
Now as most of you know I am a stacker, so i will continue to shop online for silver and gold but that is it.
Thanks for stopping by
Keep stacking!!!
Being in Seattle Amazon is a whole other beast. Basically it is a local company that is owning retail and pays corporate employees a wage that can’t be beat. This is driving up salaries in all industries here to compete. Amazon’s success has doubled my property value and transformed the city. I can’t count how many people I know who work there. One guy I know in sales got a $60,000 signing bonus. So it’s weird.... I love mom and pop shops. I am concerned by the unsustainable growth, but the short term reward is substantial.
What I have noticed.... box stores did a number on mom and pop retail. And now amazon is killing box stores. But here, the death of box stores seems to be bringing a resurgence of specialty retail. Our local mall is about to close the JC Penny’s and Macy’s. Then they are opening the mall from indoor to outdoor and replacing the department stores with all specialty retail. So maybe it’s just a cycle?
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I hope your right my friend, there still some serious welfare supoort for bix box stores, give them another 3 years and the money will run out.
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Very interesting. What sort of specialty retail are you talking about? I still would have thought that very specialised retail business would be finding niche online. I always figured it would be social interaction type businesses - cafes, restaurants, entertainment etc that would fill the retail vacuum and draw people out.
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In rebellion to online and box stores I feel like really locally connected businesses are having a resurgence. For food small grocers are popping up. Folks seem into all things locally sourced, organic and sustainable. And this goes from food, to cosmetics, to home furnishings, to pet products. In place of a big department stores like Meyer or David Jones you will see stand alone shoe stores, kids clothing, athletic wear... heck amazon even opened a brick and mortar actual book store near my work. I think the most successful businesses are going to need to cater to people across all platforms. In some ways having a large online presence with a small brick and mortar presence is genius. You can still cater to folks who want to touch and shop, while keeping your inventory somewhere with low overhead cost.
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We just stopped using them for most purchases after their current spate of censorship and book burning. It is actually a bit of a refreshing change to go into town and purchase from a local store that is still open. At least then I know my money is going to someone more worthy than Bezos.
It is honestly astounding the monopolies that have been built and allowed to persist in this day and age.
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There is no monopoly for online, you would think that there would be. Well we will see how it plays out.
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Man, I use Amazon all the time, doubt I can quit. Locally, they don't even sell 90% of what I want.
I am glad not to have to go to mega stores anymore, their a waste of time to start with.
I do support the crap out of my local hardware store, where you can still buy nuts and bolts by the piece, and we are getting more boutique stores, smaller foot print outdoors, fishing/river stores popping up that seem to do well, but the larger stores without the niche can't seem to do much. We are losing all Shopko now after losing Kmart and Sears....bigger footprint business are strugglinh
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Amazon has made it to easy, but you are right, bix box is struggling and soon will be history
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I (goldrooster) posted on this before but here in Europe it is not that far yet but coming rapidly. First books, clothing and now everything. Some warn for this but people go for cheap and easy. Amazon we do not use much nor alibaba.
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Yes they do, appreciate you stopping by
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Right or wrong, my wife does most of our shopping online now. Yesterday, we felt like going to the mall and we had to measure baby's feet for shoes. I was shocked when we got there. It took us 20 minutes to find a parking space and I had to stalk someone leaving the mall and follow them to their car. This was in SE Michigan and a large mall with 4 anchor stores. I know a lot of the retail woes are regional/local but I couldn't really believe it. But your point is valid Ray, a lot of jobs are being lost (hopefully transformed ) as a result of Amazon's model.
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@raybrockman great observation but I have a slightly different view. Human nature is cyclical and we are just seeing a turn that has played out before from catelog to strip malls, to malls, to big box, to online. This process will repeat and we will one day find online buying down with more mall like areas popping up. I may be wrong but in an economic ecosystem change is the norm and we usually embrace it. People enjoy the conscience now but the next generation may rebel and go old school. All I am saying is this is not a new thing by any means. Great write up!
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Thanks dwings, hope it is a cycle, time will tell.
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Every purchase we make is a vote in the world we want to see. Buying online is great to save money but the cost to local economies is far reaching and perhaps looking at this Verging on catastrophic.
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It is diffently having an effect, hope all is well with you!
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Amazon has only just launched in Australia but even without that I think online is haveing an impact on retail. We often run a few years behind US / Europe in these trends so the next few years will be telling. I’m glad I do t work in retail or own retail real estate.
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It's the Retail Apocalypse. Sad to see it affecting local community businesses like this but it's hard to hold back the tide. I hope that local retail businesses will transform and focus on interpersonal experience, even entertainment to stay relevant and a good reason for locals to still get out in their communities.
Soon we're going to have drones making those deliveries so even your postie mate might be in the crosshairs.
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Drones, i hope we are a few years away from that. Thanks for stopping by Buggedout!!!
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I doubt it will take that long. This was August 2016 :-
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/83529739/dominos-using-drones-to-deliver-pizza-to-new-zealand-homes
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On one hand I find it interesting to see how certain businesses come in and disrupt the market, but in this case, I am not so sure. I like being able to go into a store and look at an item before I purchase it. I know there have been several instances that I have researched an item online, looked at it in the store, and decided not to purchase after physically looking at it.
Like you mentioned, many stores are closing, but I am hoping some smaller shops come in and fill the void. Only time will tell, but I am hopeful. Great article!
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