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LAM | Retail Is Not Dead, Just Getting More Competitive
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Ithaca Mall is a lot emptier these days, and for good reason. The entrance of Amazon have had many clamoring on about the “death” of the retail industry, a $900 billion sector which represents 5.9 percent of U.S. GDP. At the core of the business, these companies sell primarily merchandise they procure, rather than produce themselves —think of the traveling merchants of the 1800s, except now they reside at malls and strips instead of an ox-wagon. But because of overwhelming advantages that internet competitors possess, like convenience and leaner costs, brick-and-mortar retail seems to be doomed now. Recent second quarter earnings reports from the sector, however, prove otherwise.