musings

I just made a post on Nookboards about the future of bookstores and it got me thinking. That's generally a dangerous thing, but it sparks the imagination sometimes.

There are two types of shopping that people partake in. First and most common are the necessities of life. The trips to the grocery store or Wal-Mart to get food, basic items, pet supplies and for many people clothes.

Then there are the special purchases. The "Best Buy" purchases, mall boutique shopping, sporting goods purchases and even furniture would fall here.

With the special purchases category, a lot of that shopping has been moving to the Internet. For people like me who live two hours from a mall, there is even more of a probability that I'll buy online.

Unfortunately buying online requires a good imagination. Shopping in stores helps to increase the emotional bond with a product before you make a buying decision, but the cost of providing these gigantic big-box stores at premium price per square foot, plus housing all of the inventory is very high. Retail stores have a hard time staying in business, particularly in a recession.