The end of Brick and Mortar?
With Barney’s going bankrupt and many other clothing retail stores sizing down — how long do you think itll be before brick and mortar clothing stores are mostly gone?
For clothing, brick and mortar is not going away because people want to feel and try on the clothing. The brick and mortar clothing stores of today that survive will be the ones who provide a differentiated offering in terms of products and service, which includes effectively integrating digital into the experience
I agree, the current market is saturated and stores will close until we get back to reasonable level. I think stores will stop carrying everything except speciality items which one needs to know the look and feel of the product.
Think there will be only pop up shops going forward
Yuck
Retailers which have not adapted are going to go out of business. People need to a reason to visit a store now that it is so easy to browse online by mobile phone or home computer. Best Buy provides essential services and demos in the store which bring in people. Build a Bear creates experiences with events to bring parents into their stores with excited kids. Toys R’ Us did not put on any events and gave people no reason to visit versus just ordering items online. IKEA is also doing really well. Nordstrom has just not adapter. It’s a dinosaur at this point. Let it die.
This. It's just an adaptation phase, like when department stores first came about and aggregated things that were once distributed across multiple stores.
Nordstrom has perfected the art of customer service. You leave with a smile on your face, and this is something amazon will never compete in. The amazon experience is convenient. But it’s so banal. A lot of people want a good experience. So while companies like Nordstrom might be dinosaurs in the eyes of some, they are absolutely cutting edge at the customer experience. It’s one of the few remaining stores that can say this, and it will be sad when it dies. This isn’t something we should encourage or be happy about, because when all experiences become like Amazon’s, we will be in a world where expertise and customer care have become extinct.
I really hope for a backlash against online retail soon, as people realize that there is something awesome about getting things that aren’t mass produced and available in every corner of the earth. Everything is so impersonal and homogenized that there’s nothing special anymore. I don’t want all this direct shopping anymore. Expedia is aggravating. Amazon is aggravating. Everything is just so, blah. Wading through endless online reviews and bogus ratings. I want to interact with humans that actually have expertise and insights that would take me a long time to glean from online resources. Fuck all that. Give me more brick and mortar. Give me human beings.
Exactly. Reviews are no substitute for a well versed salesperson and a fitting room. However, I’m happy to order paper towels on Amazon all day. 😬
I agree with these sentiments, but I think the problem is that at most brick and mortar stores, low quality China made crap prevails. Let’s face it, what you buy at Macy’s isn’t that different from what you buy on amazon. The stores that succeed will be those that carry items of the highest quality that you must see before you buy. The heart of the matter is that poor quality materials are so prevalent, and with modern branding and advertising practices, it’s really difficult to separate the goods from the crap.
Speaking to fashion exclusively, it’s going be a struggle for mediocre brands, but certainly not disappearing entirely. Barney’s is a bad example in my opinion, mostly due to their real estate issues. (Also, worth noting, they’ve declared bankruptcy once before...) Many consumers will still want service above and beyond online, which will continue to manifest in niche boutiques. Oddly enough, Allbirds, Casper, Everlane, Warby, Beta Brand - have all recently opened brick and mortar locations. 🤷🏻♂️
Brick and mortar with 1950s mindset are going out. Those who adapt survive
"Those who resist technology do not have a chance of failure. They have a guarantee." - one of my grad profs.
Brick and mortar aren’t going anywhere, there will be several who will continue to exist. USA is seeing some of them close because in USA the retail space per capita is much higher than in any country in the world. Once there is some consolidation brick and mortar stores will continue as usual.
Barney’s was terrible. They used to have great selection and customer service but they became terrible and over priced. I can get almost everything they sell at Nordstrom for cheaper and better customer service.
I think for the current need of the consumer base the market is over saturated with options. I think we will see a few more go out of business. I also think Amazon will purchase one in 2-3 years. My bet is on Kohl's Department Stores. They have Amazon centers inside the ones near me to purchase their tablets and Alexa devices, and will let you return Amazon purchases in store. I think it would be a good market move.
Maybe but Kohls is gross and hopefully Amazon knows that. I guess you could capture the blue hair market (and I mean old people not punk rock).
Not sure where you are from that Kohl's only sells to the 'blue hair market'. What other store has a national footprint, that isn't geared towards one age group, and isn't mall based that is sinking in debt?