The Collapse of Big Box Retailers May Just Be What Makes America Great Again
Earlier this week, the Walmart owned Sam’s Club abruptly shut its doors; citing a shift towards expanding Walmart’s online shopping presence. This is yet another canary that has died in the coal mine, and yet another signal that big box retailers will not survive much longer. What is often mentioned and felt when a large company shuts its doors is the way the rank and file employees are affected.
Unemployment, loss of health benefits, and the stressful trickle down affects on families and communities, as a whole. This is the dark side of business. This is a tragedy that has become all to familiar in capitalist societies.
However, there may just be an answer for this, and it may lie in doing exactly what the former employer did; go digital! Hold on before you call me insensitive or naive. Let’s take a look at what many millennials have been doing for years now, and see what may work. I am, of course, talking about making money selling goods online. I am not saying that this is for everyone, but it may be for some. Websites like Etsy have been popular for several years now, and have given many a crafty person a little bit of pocket change, and in some cases, have led to some successful business ventures.
Those of us in business and that work for a living know that you have to chase money; it rarely falls in your lap. If we follow the trend of business packing up their storefronts in favor of the virtual world then we may want to follow suit. Get crafty, write business reports, start a virtual store! Survive!
I am hardly qualified to say that I understand the struggle that early Americans had. As a matter of fact, I grew up in the civilized West, and never once had to fight off a bear, or skin a deer to eat. I have, however, had to learn how to survive and succeed from a very early age. These are the same attributes that made the West, and America great! When we see retailers close their doors, it is easy to become upset at big business. Their is a sense that big business does not care for their employees; only money. However, as a millennial, I have had to make do in an economy that has become known as the “lost decade”. Many of my generation had to learn alternative means to make an income. This often could mean getting money through multiple revenue streams.
The model that millennials came up under is essentially an independent business owner’s model. The entry and low wage jobs that the Generation X and Y youngsters had were not available to us during the “Global Recession”. We made due by starting our own businesses. When I see big box retailers closing their doors, I feel truly horrible for the unemployed. What I hope that the affected see is that they may have the ability to start their own small businesses online.
When people first came to this land, and even after this area was settled, they had to have a rugged yet forward looking drive. When I think of making America GREAT again, I look at the collapse of big box retailers as a sign that more new small business owners could be emerging. After all, American settlers did not have pensions, health insurance, and social safety nets, and look at what they built. So, collapsing real world retail is just a sign that renewed greatness is on the horizon!
Christina Kitova Twitter @CarticulusMedia Image: Chainstoreage.com