Posted on 05/26/2014 10:54:28 AM PDT by blam
May 26, 2014 - 06:47 AM
By: James Quinn
The definition of death rattle is a sound often produced by someone who is near death when fluids such as saliva and bronchial secretions accumulate in the throat and upper chest. The person can’t swallow and emits a deepening wheezing sound as they gasp for breath. This can go on for two or three days before death relieves them of their misery. The American retail industry is emitting an unmistakable wheezing sound as a long slow painful death approaches.
Death rattle
It was exactly four months ago when I wrote THE RETAIL DEATH RATTLE. Here are a few terse anecdotes from that article:
The absolute collapse in retail visitor counts is the warning siren that this country is about to collide with the reality Americans have run out of time, money, jobs, and illusions. The exponential growth model, built upon a never ending flow of consumer credit and an endless supply of cheap fuel, has reached its limit of growth. The titans of Wall Street and their puppets in Washington D.C. have wrung every drop of faux wealth from the dying middle class. There are nothing left but withering carcasses and bleached bones.
Once the Wall Street created fraud collapsed and the waves of delusion subsided, retailers have been revealed to be swimming naked. Their relentless expansion, based on exponential growth, cannibalized itself, new store construction ground to a halt, sales and profits have declined, and the inevitable closing of thousands of stores has begun.
The implications of this long and winding road to ruin are far reaching. Store closings so far have only been a ripple compared to the tsunami coming to right size the industry for a future of declining spending. Over the next five to ten
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at marketoracle.co.uk ...
If there’s one indicator of the state of the global economy it’s consumer purchasing on the retail level. And if there’s one retail company to watch as a prelude to what comes next it’s always been Walmart. Known for low prices, low wages, and multi-billion dollar profits, the world’s largest retailer is struggling.
Not as mention of the jeg-eared POS at the helm over the last six years of this economic meltdown. Obamanomics at work, just as planned...
More and more people going to Galt’s Gulch?
Or maybe everyone is just shifting to shopping online. Duh.
Things aren’t going very well; that’s for sure. But this article contains a bit too much hyperbole for my liking.
Before long there will be no more private enterprise. We will all have to shop at government stores.
No more and more people are buying from Communist China.
Just saying.
Many stores closing in my area while LOTS of Liquor Stores and Thrift Stores are opening.
“Retail CEOs are not the sharpest tools in the shed. They were born on third base and thought they hit a triple.”
From personal experience, I have to agree - and not only in retail.
Wall Street will not allow an economic collapse to occur as long as Obama remains in office. I’ve been fully-invested since I made this realization and have profited handsomely.
I’ll start taking money off the table as the 2016 election approaches.
Wall Street will not allow an economic collapse to occur as long as Obama remains in office.
But it will happen in time to declare a national emergency ,declare martial, and suspend the 2016 elections.
That's six percent of sales, which is actually a commonly cited figure. The two things people buy most, food and fuel, can't be purchased online, and the increased cost of food and fuel is keeping them from purchasing much of anything else.
Re: “The inevitable shuttering of at least 3 billion square feet of retail space is a certainty.”
I live a half mile from an upscale mall.
They have just begun a $1 billion expansion/renovation (includes two 40 story condo buildings).
This is the heart of Microsoft country, straight east from Seattle.
Based on home prices, construction, and rents in my area, most people here seem to be in a very optimistic frame of mind.
The author makes a pretty compelling case for storm clouds and the approaching sound of thunder.
Not the kind of news I was hoping to hear as I approach my retirement years with limited savings and a modest outside income.
I try to stay out of Walmart because its clientele around here are far too often uncivilized jackholes.
This is a demographic problem and would be happening now in any case.
80 million Americans have passed through their highest spending years and into retirement or low-pay jobs.
Americans buy their biggest house on average at age 46. they buy vacations homes at 52.
Around 80 million Americans are between the ages of 50 and 68. They are leaving their spending and producing years and entering the push to save for retirement. At least, those who still have jobs and make enough to save something are doing so. Many have lost their retirement accounts to the depression, which is not yet half over.
The next generation is smaller and can’t help much since boomers and those following didn’t have many children. Most college grads can’t afford any house let alone the McMansions the Boomers need to sell.
Prepare and adapt, like always. Crisis is opportunity and most fortunes are made during depressions.
I can get anything I want (except for firearms) at a great price on Amazon, and usually shipped to my front door the next day for free.
Exactly....Obummer has 2 agenda’s..
As a black man (only half really) he desires every one be brought down to the level of those on the lowest rung economically, because then he feels no inferiority complex.
Secondly, he is following advice of his mentors Frank Marshall Davis and Alinsky....which basically wants no one to rise above any one else. Hard work or better intellect be damned.
We are witnessing results of Obummer’s efforts in living color and live action.
Shop near the end of the month, after the welfare checks have run out.
From what I've read, a good chunk of retiring baby boomers won't be able to afford more stuff and expensive hobbies. The same goes for people with large student loans.
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