I was visiting a retail client and he was lamenting the impact Amazon was having on, not just his business but all of retail. I can empathize. Although retired, I have spent (misspent?) my entire life in retail. One thing I can say for certain - Amazon's business model is unique. But guess what - I have been hearing that for 45 years. When I first got into retail, most retailers were either downtown locations or stand alone locations. One of the big dogs at the time was WT Grants. Then came Sears and JC Pennys - who helped WT Grants go away. Then came the discounters - Kmart and a little start up from Arkansas called Wal-Mart. Although they are still around, no one holds much hope for Kmart, Sears or JC Penney.While this was mainly the so-called majors, the specialty stores took off in the 70's. They banded together in malls throughout the country and seriously hurt small downtown retailers. But malls are expensive to build and maintain and while they are not dead yet, they are being replaced by shopping centers. Cheaper rents and malls, as a concept, are on their way out.Amazon has certainly changed American retailing but at the end of the day, they are just the latest game changer in the retail industry. They seem unstoppable right now but so did Grants, Sears, JC Penney, Macy's, et al. The reality is Amazon is growing. So is Wal-Mart but although I won't see it, there is a new business on the horizon that will do their darndest to put both out of business, Isn't American capitalism great?
