“From rural strip-malls to Manhattan’s avenues, it has been a disastrous two years for retail.There have been 9 retail bankruptcies in 2017—as many as all of 2016. J.C. Penney, RadioShack, Macy’s & Sears have each closed more than 100 stores. Sports Authority has liquidated;Payless has filed for bankruptcy . Yet, GDP has been growing for eight straight and the last 18 months have been quietly excellent years for wage growth , particularly for middle- and lower-income folks. So, what the heck is going on? Several trends—including the rise of e-commerce, the over-supply of malls, and the surprising effects of a restaurant renaissance—have changed American shopping. What’s more, mobile shopping, once an agonizing experience of typing private credit-card digits in between pop-up ads, is getting easier thanks to apps and mobile wallets"
At www.theatlantic.com
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