When you have no choice…

I was reviewing a presentation by Dave Morgan this afternoon and I had such an odd thought cross my mind. The list of traditional brick-mortar establishments that have defined our society (at least American society) for so many years is filled with many stalwart names. Some have recently taken an economic turn that will challenge our notion of what those business mean to our lives in the future. It is a personal thing, but I’ll try to illustrate by touching upon a small portion of the list.
Circuit City shutting down. Wasn’t Circuit City the modern (but more high-end) version of Radio Shack. There wasn’t much you couldn’t get at Circuit City and there were always plenty of geeks and nerds around if you had questions (some didn’t even work there, but they seemed friendly and helpful, so why not, eh?).
Macy’s closing numerous stores. I never set foot in a Macy’s growing up, but it definitely was a name with which I was familiar. For some like my wife, it was part of holiday shopping trip traditions. Nothing stings quite like messing with traditions. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it when the time comes.
Office Depot closing over 100 stores. OD is certainly one of those places you knew you could find the office supply stuff you were lacking. Granted they were never terribly competitive with their pricing, but their stores were a part of office supply rituals and back-to-school shopping trips.
Steve & Barry’s closes 8 stores (including one here locally). My immediate reaction is who cares. I thought the place was filled with over-marketed garbage sold at near-counterfeit prices (ponder on that one). The fact that our local S&B was in a dying mall probably colors my opinion a good deal. I’m sure this closure will disappoint the dedicated bandwagon fan who will be madly searching for a Steelers/Cardinals jersey right after the game is over and they know which jersey to buy, wear and claim to have owned for years.
Finally, Sears is having issues? That hurts, because Sears was my personal Macy’s growing up and has always held a strong position with me anytime I needed quality handtools that were unconditionally backed up with a guaranteed, no-questions replacement policy.

As more stores shrink or disappear, the customers that have relied upon those stores for some period of their life will have to adjust, whether be an annual trip for school supplies or a monthly trip to knock out the office supply list. Where do you go now? I’ll bet you can find whatever you seek at http://www.__________________ (fill in the blank). I’m quite certain some would shrug and matter of factly ask, “so what?” I can live with that reaction, because that is the reaction I would expect from those who have broken free of the brick and mortar mentality. Maybe it’s a borderline boomer thing, but there are plenty of people who haven’t made the jump to an electronic shopping mindset. It’s coming. Imagine yourself immersed into a historical parallel: 1872, middle of nowhere, but you have a Montgomery Ward catalog. It has pictures, descriptions, prices and an address to which the order can sent. Talk about a business that exploded and all without the benefit of store fronts, sales clerks, annoying perfume smells, mortgages/rent, etc. Why? People didn’t have any other choice. It worked then…why not now?