2018 will be a fascinating year in retail. While it's true, the last few years haven't been wonderful for traditional retail stores this year might be "the year" that many of them close. I don't want to sound like I'm creating a self fulfilling prophecy. After all, if you wake up every day and say "today I will die" eventually you'll be correct, but one does not need a crystal ball to see that the end is near for stores like Sears, JC Penny, Barnes and Nobles, The Gap, and perhaps every other store that is in an old school mall.
What's sad is that thousands of people will lose their jobs. There is nothing we can do about that, but assuredly people will get other jobs in non retail fields. The government can't save retail, it's beyond their control in a free market. The consumers have decided that Amazon is where we'd rather shop and that's totally understandable. There are no lines, no traffic and no annoying sales people to deal with on Amazon. Amazon isn't the only place to shop online of course, but it is the most popular online destination for shopping.
I've always been fascinated in seeing things decline and fade away. On Youtube I watch dozens of videos of dead malls. Rarely do malls/retail stores go out with a band. It's usually a long, slow bleed until someone mercifully pulls the plug. 2018 could be the year that many stores go the euthanasia route.
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