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The free market in action. Retail outlets are simply not equipped to handle the tastes of the modern consumer. It is an industry that saw huge growth in the 80'

The free market in action. Retail outlets are simply not equipped to handle the tastes of the modern consumer. It is an industry that saw huge growth in the 80's and 90's and has not been able to keep up with technology. As the segment of the population that still exclusively shops brick-and-mortar ages, unless these businesses can evolve and modernize they will continue to fail. Tough break, but its ultimately better for the consumer. Retail jobs are some of the worst ones to have too, so as long as the gross job counts are replaced then good riddance. There are real problems that brick-and-mortar solve though, mainly having instant tactile demos of products, like holding an iPhone at the Apple store or trying on clothes. Future businesses will figure out how to combine the two approaches into a profitable business model. Trunk club is a good, if expensive, example.

duderific 9y ago
> Retail jobs are some of the worst ones to have too True, but they are also some of the only jobs nowadays that are available to people without college degrees, or people who have effectively aged out of the white collar or blue collar workforce, but still need to generate some sort of income. Notice how many retail clerks nowadays are in the 55+ set.
- headcanon 9y ago
  I know, thats why I qualified it with "so as long as the gross job counts are replaced" Being a millenial, most people I've met in my age group are working in either retail or food service. Many of them also have 4-year degrees, just not in a business or technical field. One could say they should have made better educational decisions, but I would rather live in a world where we can celebrate the variety of human interests and endeavors, and not subject people to a lifetime of economic purgatory just because they didn't learn programming or whatever in school. I'm lucky because I happened to be legitimately interested in something that is very profitable in today's economy. Others are not so much, and I really feel for them. But the solution does not lie in dead-end jobs that give no kind of gainful employment.

duderific 9y ago

> Retail jobs are some of the worst ones to have too True, but they are also some of the only jobs nowadays that are available to people without college degrees, or people who have effectively aged out of the white collar or blue collar workforce, but still need to generate some sort of income. Notice how many retail clerks nowadays are in the 55+ set.

headcanon 9y ago
I know, thats why I qualified it with "so as long as the gross job counts are replaced" Being a millenial, most people I've met in my age group are working in either retail or food service. Many of them also have 4-year degrees, just not in a business or technical field. One could say they should have made better educational decisions, but I would rather live in a world where we can celebrate the variety of human interests and endeavors, and not subject people to a lifetime of economic purgatory just because they didn't learn programming or whatever in school. I'm lucky because I happened to be legitimately interested in something that is very profitable in today's economy. Others are not so much, and I really feel for them. But the solution does not lie in dead-end jobs that give no kind of gainful employment.