By Eliot Schiaparelli

Walking into a Target store is like coming home. I can spot an Xhilaration (a Target brand, for those who don’t know) sundress from a mile away, and my Target shirt is one of my most prized possessions. I don’t just work at Target; being a Target employee is part of my identity. I’m a softlines sales associate, so the market that I work in (retail) is the one that you hear of closings in everyday.

I know that working at Target won’t be my life’s work. The job won’t be my career, but for many of my co-workers, it may well be. But, as of today, Amazon could be buying out several chains like Target, leading to a proclaimed “retail apocalypse.”

So, is the coming “retail-pocalypse” a good thing or a bad thing? Just last month, Toys-R-Us announced it was going the way of Blockbuster and closing all its U.S. stores. Abercrombie and Fitch, Payless and Macy’s have all announced store closings, and the jewelry store Claire’s has declared bankruptcy.

Brick-and-mortar stores seem like they are becoming a thing of the past and closures seem to have increased tenfold in the past few years. These stores seem to be disappearing about as quickly as the number of Amazon packages arriving at my doorstep is increasing. The stock market tells the story in black and white; most retail stocks are in a seemingly endless decline, while Amazon’s stock soars.

The news isn’t all bad, though. Many companies now have to get creative to get customers through their doors. This attraction can be done through promotions and sales both in-store and online. New stores online mean more merchandise to choose from. Stores operating solely online (like ASOS and Tobi) have become personal favorites. Because they don’t have to run a traditional brick-and-mortar store, their businesses can often offer higher quality products for less.

There is always a risk, however, in trying a new store. One sees endless articles and threads online filled with tales of shopping mishaps that range anywhere from mini-furniture to prom dresses that look nothing like the picture promised. Personally, I decided to take the plunge and order my senior year prom dress from PromDressShop.com. It was not the most promising URL, but the leap of faith paid off. For plenty of other people, though, it doesn’t.

Another thing I love about internet shopping on sites like Amazon is the convenience of ordering a new pair of shoes without ever leaving the couch.
I have to admit, my beloved Target’s website pales in comparison. No company can beat the convenience of one-click ordering and free two-day shipping through Amazon Prime.

It’s no wonder that nearly half of all U.S. e-commerce comes from Amazon, or that those numbers are growing. On the other hand, there’s a lot to love about physically going to a store. I like to try on the shoes I’m about to buy and feel the fabric on each shirt.

Not all the issues the retail sector is wrestling with are caused by Amazon, of course. Many stores that are closing have major debt problems. One example of this that springs to mind is H&M. The retail giant has over $4.3 billion worth of unsold clothes, and their plan to relieve the surplus is to increase their online presence and slash prices.

Obviously, when brands have to slash prices, they lose money and go down a slippery slope. The whole retail model is difficult. Each store has to have multiple sizes of every item on hand and they have to pay leases and mortgages on their space.

They have to pay sales associates, cashiers and stockroom workers, just to name a few expenses. They have to take losses from damaged products and theft, so the price of each item is carefully calibrated to include all of this. They expect some items to be marked down, but not $4.3 billion worth of retail!

Despite the majority of this discussion centering around clothing retail, the digital move doesn’t only apply to that market sector. Everything from cars to sports equipment and even food has made its way online. Overall, hope for the traditional storefront now seems pretty dismal.

Will traditional stores ever fully go away? Of course not. But they’ll certainly continue to downsize and change their business models while online stores grow and thrive. There’s no need to panic; the marketplace is an ever-changing entity.

People are calling theses changes a “retail apocalypse,” but I don’t see it that way: let’s call it a “retail revolution.” Despite various closings and changes to the marketplace, let’s not panic. It’s just normal fluctuation. Change isn’t necessarily bad, especially when it serves consumers like you and me.

Eliot Schiaparelli, FCRH ’21, is a journalism major from Cincinnati, Ohio.