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That all seems very happy-go-lucky. However, how many malls has amazon put out of business? How many malls has amazon bought for distribution centers? My gue

That all seems very happy-go-lucky. However, how many malls has amazon put out of business? How many malls has amazon bought for distribution centers? My guess is that ratio is not good.

rapsey 7y ago
So what? They have become redundant so they are going extinct. Whats the problem with progress?
- chroem- 7y ago
  I wonder what the post-Bezos future will look like after we have a single source remaining for all our daily necessities, and Amazon enters a later stage of its corporate lifecycle and begins to go the way of IBM or GE. If we replace all other stores with just Amazon, that seems like an enormous risk to human life if Amazon starts to become mismanaged in the future.
  - 24gttghh 7y ago
    That already happened with Walmart to an extent, right? Not that I want Amazon to do the same thing...
  - adventured 7y ago
    We're not replacing all other stores with Amazon. The Amazon-takes-over-retail fantasy is not going to happen. Their online retail business is now a very slow growth business. For them to actually take over retail, they'd need to be seeing high rates of growth year after year for decades yet. At their rate of deceleration, they'll be at a mid single digits rate of growth within a couple of years. Their whole business - AWS, devices, online retail, physical retail - is going to struggle to stay above 10% sales growth in that same timeline as a matter of fact. The far bigger, more likely risk is that their traditional online retail business sees a near contraction stall four to five years out. Walmart is still doing $500 billion in sales by comparison. Unless Amazon finds a magic way to turbocharge their online growth (1 day shipping isn't going to cut it), it'll still take 20 to 30 years to just match the size of Walmart in retail, and that's if everything goes well for Amazon. What Amazon figured out, is that they can't kill Walmart via online retail (which is the sole segment that Amazon has any retail dominance). So they're increasingly exploring physical retail as their only way to grow. Wholefoods was Amazon being forced to buy their growth, it was a classic sign of a business that has lost much of its organic growth. Their days of serious retail growth online are dead.
    - olivermarks 7y ago
      Matured rather than 'dead' - that cycle is now mostly complete
      - adventured 7y ago
        Dead was the right term. It refers to the high rate of former growth in their online retail business. That high rate of growth is dead. The business is mature. I didn't say the business was dead.
    - bluedino 7y ago
      Since half of Walmarts revenues are from groceries, I wonder how much of a difference it would make if you coud use food stamps at Amazon
  - tracer4201 7y ago
    Your post is inaccurate. WalMart still beats Amazon handsomely in terms of revenue, not to mention, Amazon only recently shifted to profitability, and now their growth is declining. This notion that Amazon has retail market capture or is close to market capture is completely inaccurate.
  - sjg007 7y ago
    I mean, we had Sears previously. That is the direct analog of Amazon. I think you will always find boutiques, hybrid supermarkets and then destination like experiences. People will pay for convenience and last minute availability. Also, Amazon is filled to the brim with Chinese crap.
    - delfinom 7y ago
      Amazon has gotten really bad since they opened the floodgate to Chinese crap. Alot of it is shady as fuck.
  - mimixco 7y ago
    IBM and GE are both 100 years old, so Amazon still has plenty of room left in its game.
- jawns 7y ago
  From this biography of John D. Rockerfeller: > In 1870, he established Standard Oil, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, in order to gain a monopoly in the industry. So what? Those competitors have become redundant so they are going extinct? What's the problem with progress? Even if you give Amazon every benefit of the doubt regarding the ethicalness of its business practices, the fact remains that monopolies, and near-monopolies, are dangerous. We know what happens. We have hundreds of years of history to look back on to see what happens.
  - bmmayer1 7y ago
    In what way is Amazon a monopoly or near-monopoly?
    - johnwheeler 7y ago
      They’re nearly 50% of US e-commerce and growing. Retail spending online is growing double-digits year over year. It’s not too hard to see the writing on the wall. Whether or not this is good or bad is a separate argument, but there’s no doubt there’s an issue with its competitive dynamics.
      - tracer4201 7y ago
        How does that make them a monopoly? As a matter of fact, their platform is open to third party sellers now (which IMO has hurt their quality of service). Is 50% the magic number that deems an entity to be a monopoly? What is, and who decides? WalMart is still leaps ahead of Amazon in revenue. It’s disingenuous and you point out a percentage metric, which is very misleading, but don’t compare hard numbers such as revenue.
        johnwheeler 7y ago
        Well, you just have to use common sense. It’s not like they’re 50% of the shoe button business; they’re 50% of online retail. You’re being disingenuous because you write as if that number is meaningless.
hvoiiita 7y ago
I'm originally from Euclid, one of the malls Amazon is snapped up. The area has been dilapidated for a while as it's a popular white flight city for East Cleveland transplants. I remember ~15 years ago it was just Sears left.

That all seems very happy-go-lucky. However, how many malls has amazon put out of business? How many malls has amazon bought for distribution centers? My guess is that ratio is not good.

rapsey 7y ago

So what? They have become redundant so they are going extinct. Whats the problem with progress?

chroem- 7y ago
I wonder what the post-Bezos future will look like after we have a single source remaining for all our daily necessities, and Amazon enters a later stage of its corporate lifecycle and begins to go the way of IBM or GE. If we replace all other stores with just Amazon, that seems like an enormous risk to human life if Amazon starts to become mismanaged in the future.
- 24gttghh 7y ago
  That already happened with Walmart to an extent, right? Not that I want Amazon to do the same thing...
- adventured 7y ago
  We're not replacing all other stores with Amazon. The Amazon-takes-over-retail fantasy is not going to happen. Their online retail business is now a very slow growth business. For them to actually take over retail, they'd need to be seeing high rates of growth year after year for decades yet. At their rate of deceleration, they'll be at a mid single digits rate of growth within a couple of years. Their whole business - AWS, devices, online retail, physical retail - is going to struggle to stay above 10% sales growth in that same timeline as a matter of fact. The far bigger, more likely risk is that their traditional online retail business sees a near contraction stall four to five years out. Walmart is still doing $500 billion in sales by comparison. Unless Amazon finds a magic way to turbocharge their online growth (1 day shipping isn't going to cut it), it'll still take 20 to 30 years to just match the size of Walmart in retail, and that's if everything goes well for Amazon. What Amazon figured out, is that they can't kill Walmart via online retail (which is the sole segment that Amazon has any retail dominance). So they're increasingly exploring physical retail as their only way to grow. Wholefoods was Amazon being forced to buy their growth, it was a classic sign of a business that has lost much of its organic growth. Their days of serious retail growth online are dead.
  - olivermarks 7y ago
    Matured rather than 'dead' - that cycle is now mostly complete
    - adventured 7y ago
      Dead was the right term. It refers to the high rate of former growth in their online retail business. That high rate of growth is dead. The business is mature. I didn't say the business was dead.
  - bluedino 7y ago
    Since half of Walmarts revenues are from groceries, I wonder how much of a difference it would make if you coud use food stamps at Amazon
- tracer4201 7y ago
  Your post is inaccurate. WalMart still beats Amazon handsomely in terms of revenue, not to mention, Amazon only recently shifted to profitability, and now their growth is declining. This notion that Amazon has retail market capture or is close to market capture is completely inaccurate.
- sjg007 7y ago
  I mean, we had Sears previously. That is the direct analog of Amazon. I think you will always find boutiques, hybrid supermarkets and then destination like experiences. People will pay for convenience and last minute availability. Also, Amazon is filled to the brim with Chinese crap.
  - delfinom 7y ago
    Amazon has gotten really bad since they opened the floodgate to Chinese crap. Alot of it is shady as fuck.
- mimixco 7y ago
  IBM and GE are both 100 years old, so Amazon still has plenty of room left in its game.
jawns 7y ago
From this biography of John D. Rockerfeller: > In 1870, he established Standard Oil, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, in order to gain a monopoly in the industry. So what? Those competitors have become redundant so they are going extinct? What's the problem with progress? Even if you give Amazon every benefit of the doubt regarding the ethicalness of its business practices, the fact remains that monopolies, and near-monopolies, are dangerous. We know what happens. We have hundreds of years of history to look back on to see what happens.
- bmmayer1 7y ago
  In what way is Amazon a monopoly or near-monopoly?
  - johnwheeler 7y ago
    They’re nearly 50% of US e-commerce and growing. Retail spending online is growing double-digits year over year. It’s not too hard to see the writing on the wall. Whether or not this is good or bad is a separate argument, but there’s no doubt there’s an issue with its competitive dynamics.
    - tracer4201 7y ago
      How does that make them a monopoly? As a matter of fact, their platform is open to third party sellers now (which IMO has hurt their quality of service). Is 50% the magic number that deems an entity to be a monopoly? What is, and who decides? WalMart is still leaps ahead of Amazon in revenue. It’s disingenuous and you point out a percentage metric, which is very misleading, but don’t compare hard numbers such as revenue.
      - johnwheeler 7y ago
        Well, you just have to use common sense. It’s not like they’re 50% of the shoe button business; they’re 50% of online retail. You’re being disingenuous because you write as if that number is meaningless.

hvoiiita 7y ago

I'm originally from Euclid, one of the malls Amazon is snapped up. The area has been dilapidated for a while as it's a popular white flight city for East Cleveland transplants. I remember ~15 years ago it was just Sears left.