RE: Do you know ANYONE that works for Amazon???
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?
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.
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.
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.