With the closing of the Bed Bath and Beyond, we are left to wonder what stores are next to go. While online shopping, such as some of the biggest ones Amazon, Target, Walmart, are taking out mom and pop shops, brand name stores nationwide that are now going under. The initial thought is that it’s becoming easier to order and receive the objects the customer ordered, while in some cases this might be true but it’s taking away money from the middle and lower class people, it’s taking away their jobs, where in some to most cases that will be the only source of income. The employees to all of these companies already don’t make nearly enough to live off of it as is. They can’t afford to be out of a job as long as some of them are forced to be. While it seems like the biggest names are taking over like Target and Walmart. Since the pandemic they have had their own falling out as well. They have had a large amount of closing, this is all going on while the closing of the other “smaller” stores continued because these larger companies were still running them down, even though they are also losing profit.
Not only are they taking away jobs from people across the country at the mom and pop shops and smaller brand names, they are also taking away jobs from their own employees either by firing or laying off because of the departures of their own stores. While the large online presence companies expanded during the pandemic they went on to acquire too much space for their warehouses and facilities. This left them high and dry forcing the closures of some of their biggest and advanced facilities across the country. While they were technically losing money these companies continued to remodel and outperform the competition making the plans for opening of new locations happen across the nation. With the super companies making new facilities one to come is Amazon’s style of a grocery store. As Amazon tries to open produce pickups, there is a mass closure of grocery stores, the closing of grocery stores can have a significant impact on the local community. There are times where the people that live in that community might not have another practical option available. The reason for closure varies, but the majority is due to low growth potential and underperformance. In the face of Amazon opening their new in person shopping experience, experts are not believing that Amazon can handle neither being equipped nor prepared to compete in the highly competitive food market across the country.
Bed Bath and Beyond has announced they will begin a company shutdown, closing 360 stores nationwide. They are doomed to see the same fate that the other “old fashioned” stores all over have seen time and time again just in the last few years. As the big retailers take over the smaller stores such as JCPenny, Sears and Macy’s, they are left stranded and can hardly keep themselves afloat, let alone put up a fight against the larger competition. While just in recent history Bed Bath and Beyond, in 2018 they had 1,500 stores nationwide, since then they had been on a steep decline. Even stores like FootLocker are starting to feel the pain that these super companies bring. FootLocker have stated that they are going to be closing 420 stores by the year 2026 in shopping malls as a plan to reset the company, as well as the 125 champs sports locations that they own. While FootLocker will be closing a large part of their location they are also set to open more than 300 new concept stores in the same period including outside of malls. As Home Goods is going through bankruptcy it will be shutting down more than half of their locations nationwide. There is a mass exodus happening all across the United states and it’s the lack of tenants attending the malls. Less than a decade ago all of the stores such as Bed Bath and Beyond, FootLocker and Homegoods, seemed that everything was looking up.
Sales grew every year, the management was solid, while the consumers loved the never expiring coupons, the permissive return policies, as well as the space, it was looking like everything was figured out, until they didn’t. Now they are all facing bankruptcy, while their stock price has plunged, the locations are going away. As it looks right now we will be losing alot of these stores, plus many more in the near future because of the superstores. While it might be easier to order everything from the tips of your finger and the comfort of not moving a muscle while getting everything you need, people all over should walk around their community and get to learn the people that run these smaller shops so they can continue for the next generation to see.
