What do you think?
Is the retail apocalypse a sign of impending financial doom or merely a move toward a more digital society? Will unemployment begin to rise even further?

This death list is pretty scary, but it’s reality and it gets lot worse before it gets better. I think in reality the retail sector is in worse shape today than it was in 2008 during the financial crisis. A soaring budget and trade deficits, rising interest rates, higher inflation, a falling U.S. Dollar a trade war and a slowing economy all causing lower earnings. It’s all related to Fed policy. Let's see how much longer Powell along with others can pretend all is well. Another reason people are shopping on the Internet is that the average American shopper is broke. They can barely afford to buy the stuff that they’re buying. In fact, most people are buying stuff that they can’t afford. They’re just buying anyway and they’re using a credit card…Retailing is a shrinking market because Americans’ pocketbooks are shrinking, their paychecks are shrinking.
Great post about retail APOCALYPSE!
 ![8DAA987B-5041-4A0A-BB48-8FE04C748AC2.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZw1WQCgQxnuAra77MqVfGMzsF9RvdmCR3Wv5dvScL7w3/8DAA987B-5041-4A0A-BB48-8FE04C748AC2.gif)

Some interesting charts on the stores closing historically and this year here:

https://www.providr.com/store-closures/

![](https://img.providr.com/2543.png)

Amazon has taken Walmart's spot as the new Bully.  As much as I love Amazon, I'm scared of them as well.  Amazon is about 5% of all US sales, but almost 40% of US online sales.  Amazon is a huge reason for the Retail Apocalypse and continues to squeeze retails like pythons....to death.  Every city is bidding on Amazon HQ2, not realizing the consequences will be housing price increases and more traffic.

Every time I turn around, the shop radio is blasting a sale advertisement for JCPenny or Macy's. Every weekend is some excuse for a 'sale' as they desperately try to get warm bodies to visit their retail necropoli. No brick and mortar retail is going to survive the internet age unless they become a primarily online retailer and forget the huge storefront and expensive square footage of 'the mall.'

Not necessarily (monopolistic fuckbag owned and operated) Amazon; but online.

O'Reiley's, Napa, and Autozone are going to die too -their prices are consistently almost double what RockAuto and other online distributors can sell for, so why would any rational person shop there except for the occasional emergency part or odds-n-ends?

It is a 'brave new world' out there and we wonder why Soma sales are through the roof (with the concumbant overdoses, death and misery it brings.)

This death list is pretty scary, but it’s reality and it gets lot worse before it gets better. I think in reality the retail sector is in worse shape today than it was in 2008 during the financial crisis. A soaring budget and trade deficits, rising interest rates, higher inflation, a falling U.S. Dollar a trade war and a slowing economy all causing lower earnings.Another reason people are shopping on the Internet is that the average American shopper is broke

I thought radio shack went out of business years ago, either go online and sell shit cheaper than amazon or go out of business, that's what is up.  I went to Walmart on "black Friday" and to the mall a week before Christmas, retail is dead. Self driving cars and trucks will eliminate 15% of jobs, but who cares, everyone can just become steemit millionaires.  I imagined that in the future someday after robots and automation took everyone's jobs that we would be paid for posting online, and lo and behold...

The death of the Malls has begun.. Higher insurance, higher deductibles. high and higher property taxes and state taxes, less of company benefits and those affected are supposed to keep shopping in malls. 

A mall near me actually lost Saks Fifth Avenue last year. And the mall only had two anchors, But the mall owners are doing the right thing: They have added many more restaurants and is now completing an upscale multiplex where Saks used to be. Its the right answer for malls to survive. People want experiences. Amazon can do a lot but it can't replicate the dining out or movie theater experience. Malls need to be destinations now and not a place to buy things.

This is a very long list.. Tens of thousands of jobs!!! where will these employees get the money to finance their standards of living. I do believe these retail outlets closing business is a result of competition set by Amazon; an online outlet which offers lower prices, a variety of options to pick from, a convenience of purchasing an item while cross legged in your chair at home. This has been too much for the retail outlets that have been trying to maximise profits amidst the huge costs they incur like employees' salaries.
Am seeing big names on this list which shows almost every retail outlet is getting affected.
The government needs to come in at this time to prevent all these people from going back to the streets. The level of  unemployment that will come up is bad for America. The government has been doing it's level best to keep the American people secure.. but with this popping up, we might start seeing increase in the crime rate. Good time keeping employees will turn into burglars for the sake of surviving.
The government needs to come up with a plan to prevent these retail outlets from going down. I strongly believe giant outlets like Amazon are the culprits here. And policies creating a good working environment between these giant firms and the retail outlets need to be set up and regulated  to keep the retail outlets from falling out of business.

We are really shocked on that time.No-one complained when the current crop of mega-stores killed the Mom and Pop shops, General Stores, haberdasheries, Candy, and Hay Grain and Feed stores.
But this is the time to change us and walk with a harmonic step to stop this.

This death list is pretty scary, but it’s reality and it gets lot worse before it gets better. I think in reality the retail sector is in worse shape today than it was in 2008 during the financial crisis. A soaring budget and trade deficits, rising interest rates, higher inflation, a falling U.S. Dollar a trade war and a slowing economy all causing lower earnings. It’s all related to Fed policy. Let's see how much longer Powell along with others can pretend all is well. Another reason people are shopping on the Internet is that the average American shopper is broke. They can barely afford to buy the stuff that they’re buying. In fact, most people are buying stuff that they can’t afford. They’re just buying anyway and they’re using a credit card…Retailing is a shrinking market because Americans’ pocketbooks are shrinking, their paychecks are shrinking.

Shopping is no longer fun. You get badgered to donate to charity, get a rewards card, open a credit card and give your email. I don't not shop because I lack money, I don't shop retail because I'm tired of being badgered. Being a good customer with cash in hand is no longer good enough for stores, they want much more from you.It doesn't help that customer service is non existent when visiting the actual stores now. These millennial employees usually act like I am bothering them at their house when I need to purchase something. They also never know anything about the merchandise and can not answer any questions you might have. Only high end boutiques seem to still take pride in helping customers.

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -- Thomas Jefferson

And... we didn't listen!

The 2018 Death List exists because the consumer is changing its preferences and tendencies. Right now we see e-commerce winning more and more fans, which mean that either you adapt and try to survive this new era, or you are going to close doors.
Of course Amazon is the obvious company to blame, but evolution is always happening and a lot of this "shops" are only trying to sell physically to the consumer.

The big problem associated to this, is that **tens of thousands of jobs will be lost** and it will have a negative impact in the unemployed rate.