When I heard recently that JCPenney was filing for bankruptcy, it occurred to me that it is likely in the not-too-distant future that, except for Walmart and Costco, there will be no retail outlets for me to visit. It also occurred to me that it’s my fault. Oh, not my fault alone but along with millions like me we have let Amazon take over.
Why? Well, because I’ve been lazy. I could have driven a few blocks to Ace Hardware for the drill I wanted, but it was easier to order online, and when I wanted a few new shirts I could have gone to Macy’s or Stein Mart, but no — I ordered online. Now, of course, Macy’s is gone and we can only hope Stein Mart will hang on.
But it’s not just ordering online, it’s specifically ordering at Amazon. It’s amazingly fast and the price is right. But it is going to cost us big time.
Amazon is so successful that it is gobbling up smaller retail outlets at an alarming rate and when they are gone we will no longer be able to go into a store and try things on to see how they fit and how they look. I’m going to miss that. We won’t be able to try thing out to see how they work. I’m going to miss that.
If the shirts don’t fit and you got them online, no problem, just send them back. But that’s a bother and then you have to start all over again to get new shirts.
So there are drawbacks to ordering online.
I’m hoping it’s not too late. I hope we can save the mom-and-pop retail outlets and the larger ones, too, but we have to make an effort. I, for one, and I hope a lot of your readers, will be buying local whenever I can. If I have to order online, there are others besides Amazon.
I think the demise of local retail outlets would be a disaster for those of us who enjoy shopping and I believe also that it would have a disastrous effect on the economy.
Shop local.
Richard Myers
Valencia
