I don’t think there’s much the city can do to avoid the dwindling commerce at the ghost town mall. The trend for most communities across our nation has been the same: downtown specialty shops, department stores, then strip malls. Next came the “big-box retailers” like Cosco and Wal-Mart (which also have an Internet presence with sometimes better prices). It’s been discussed for decades that if we want to continue to have brick and mortar stores in our community, we need to patronize those businesses. If not, they will be gone. I feel that I do my part to keep JCP in town. The new trend is the revolution of e-commerce or online shopping, which will only continue to grow, and more top retailers will be filing Chapter 11. Borders, Blockbuster, Circuit City, and Tower Records have all given up physical buildings with the rent and other overhead costs. Now there are “Internet shopping malls”. The gas stations, grocery and drug stores and restaurants will still be with us, but the future is e-commerce. Amazon is talking about deliveries via drones. And I can see Jane Jetson as I speak to her via Skype.
Feb 7 2014
With Sears leaving, what should or could the city do to help the Galesburg mall?
I don’t think there’s much the city can do to avoid the dwindling commerce at the ghost town mall. The trend for most communities across our nation has been the same: downtown specialty shops, department stores, then strip malls. Next came the “big-box retailers” like Cosco and Wal-Mart (which also have an Internet presence with sometimes better prices). It’s been discussed for decades that if we want to continue to have brick and mortar stores in our community, we need to patronize those businesses. If not, they will be gone. I feel that I do my part to keep JCP in town. The new trend is the revolution of e-commerce or online shopping, which will only continue to grow, and more top retailers will be filing Chapter 11. Borders, Blockbuster, Circuit City, and Tower Records have all given up physical buildings with the rent and other overhead costs. Now there are “Internet shopping malls”. The gas stations, grocery and drug stores and restaurants will still be with us, but the future is e-commerce. Amazon is talking about deliveries via drones. And I can see Jane Jetson as I speak to her via Skype.
By spiritspeak • Community Roundtable 0