On the Side| Brad Hicks

While the news elites try to make us think we should be most concerned about what Donald Trump tweets, Americans are impacted by more-concerning things.

Last week, buried in the piles of news about whether the Russians hacked the political parties and tried to influence our elections – they did, and they have for years, respectively, just as we have theirs – a bedrock retailer announced it was closing more stores.

Sears Holdings, which operates Sears and Kmart stores across the land, announced it was closing another 150 of them. Most were Kmart stores that were underperforming compared to their markets and operating costs. Some Sears stores closed, too, and the company announced it was selling its iconic Craftsman tool line to Black and Decker.

Naturally there is a concern for our area, given we have a Kmart store. What we hear is the local store is doing well. With Sears Holdings bleeding millions in losses, we can logically suppose that if the local store wasn’t performing it would have been closed. 

Dig deeper, however, and you see that The Limited closed all 250 of its stores last week. That chain, with thousands of stores, was a big deal over the last 20 years. Its parent company owns other stores, too, including Victoria’s Secret. Then we see that Macy’s is closing 100 stores. Chico’s and Ann Taylor, two other women’s clothing retailers, have closed up shops, too.

What’s happening?

A stagnant economy and zero to no wage growth for nearly a decade chased many people into second-hand stores and discounters for clothing. And, internet retailing is taking customers away from the brick-and-mortar foundations of the retail economy.

Let me state unequivocally that this is not a good thing for communities – for any communities. 

For example, when you place an order with Amazon, you are entering a data request for something. That request is processed by a computer, and robotics takes care of locating the item in inventory, delivering the item to where it needs to be boxed and addressed, and then it is routed by a computer system to an awaiting delivery component – a truck or parcel service. 

This just-in-time process saves Amazon lots of time and money. It doesn’t need many people. It holds hostage for profits the companies that want access to its systems. And, it is putting competitors out of business. 

This online approach isolates property expenses to the distribution centers and headquarters locations. It reduces payroll to the limited number of people needed to operate those locations. It signifantly reduces property, sales and payroll tax expenses because there are few locations. I am not a big tax guy, but we need to have some to maintain our infrastructures. 

Malls without Sears, Macy’s, The Limited? Companies that operate malls are in trouble. What will communities do with those vacancies?

Far worse is the elimination of jobs. Everyone cannot work for a delivery company – especially one hellbent on drone and driverless car deliveries. 

Internet retailing is a beast we keep feeding while it eats us alive from the other side. Go ahead, place your order. Till your checks run out.

Brad Hicks is the Editor/Publisher of The Express