Prior to the pandemic, retail stores everywhere were in great financial trouble. State mandated closings have forced many businesses to shut their stores for good.
As a child, going to my favorite store was filled with anxious excitement. Toys R’ Us and many other adolescent and young adult stores made going to the mall an all day experience. I recently walked through my local mall for the first time since March and was left in utter disbelief at the amount of vacancies and big yellow store closing signs. The stores that were once busy and fully stocked were unknowingly in financial trouble, sustaining themselves from transaction to transaction like most of America who live paycheck to paycheck. Months with no profit has caused stores to pack up and get out before it’s too late. Online sales have killed the retail industry but has seemingly kept many businesses afloat.
Retail workers everywhere have seen the decrease of in person shopping over the years, but the pandemic has significantly decreased the amount of foot-traffic. As I began to checkout at one of the few stores at the mall, the sales clerk mentioned how many stores gave no warning of the company’s financial ruin, leaving their employees completely blind sided. As a retail worker, I have witnessed the ebbs and flows of the industry; Amazon, Target and Walmart have created one stop shops which ultimately flourished during the shut down. Malls are under capacity due to covid regulations but many people are not tempted to shop because of the risk and potential spread.
According to Emily Pandise of CBS News “Falling consumer demand, reduced entertainment spending, and stay-at-home orders mandating certain businesses stay closed continue to take their toll on a retail industry that has been struggling for the past several years as consumers pivot to online shopping,” Pandise stated. “The coronavirus has seemingly spared no one in its devastation of the U.S. economy, speeding up the demise of iconic department stores, gyms and entertainment giants.”
As the economy slowly begins to reopen, restaurants and local businesses are doing their best to recover from months of slowed income. The chain stores that fill our local malls are now being replaced by local establishments that many of us unknowingly neglected before the pandemic. Supporting local and small shops has kept many family owned food and clothing stores in business. According to Jordan Valinsky of CNN business sector “Coresight Research said as many as 25,000 retail stores in the United States are expected to permanently close this year as consumer demand for discretionary items stall and more people shift to online shopping.”
The swift change of an in-person consumer society coupled with Covid-19 has altered the world we once knew. How and where we shop may not be confined to a mall or a traditional store in years to come.
