The era of big-box retail dominance is coming to an end. That's the opinion of David Welch, Chris Burritt and Lauren Coleman-Lochner, writing in Bloomberg on the occasion of Best Buy's recent announcement that it is closing 50 big stores.
Best Buy's announcement last week that it would be closing 50 large stores, and opening 100 smaller ones, is just the recent sign that, "After 50 years of putting mom and pops out of business, big-box retail is having a mid-life crisis," report Welch, Burritt and Coleman-Lochner.
The recent struggles of big-box retailers can be traced to the lingering effects of the recession, the rise of online buying and cost comparison, and the slowdown in housing construction, among other factors.
Although the construction of large format stores may be declining, don't look for the Targets, Wal-Marts, and Best Buys of the world to disappear anytime soon.
According to Matt Arnold, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in Des Peres, Missouri, "While big-box retailers are struggling, they aren't going away. They are shifting to smaller formats and investing in online retailing."
"If Best Buy and its big-box ilk are to survive, they'll have to evolve and do a better job of integrating their brick- and-mortar locations with their Web stores, Arnold said."
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