For a majority of my childhood, going to the store was always an adventure. It didn't matter if we were going to a supermarket, a department store, a mall, or even a Dollar Tree. What did matter was exploring these commercial environments and making memories that are still with me to this day.

The 2010's were not a kind year to retailers.

Many well-known brands such as Radio Shack, K-Mart, Sears, Payless Shoes, Bon Ton, and most recently Toys R Us have either seen all of their stores completely closed as they fold into bankruptcy, or have seen the number of operational stores greatly reduced in order to avoid a similar fate.

The cause of this "apocalypse" is not too hard to pinpoint; online shopping. The 2010's have seen a massive boom in online sales from companies such as Amazon and eBay. In this internet-wired a-la-carte society that we find ourselves in, many choose online shopping over other means because of its relative ease-of-access, usually cheaper pricing, and the fact that it can all be done from the comforts of home.

What online stores can never hope to replicate is the experience of walking through a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Like I've described above, I have many fun memories of running through these stores while I was little. Even now, retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and malls serve as places where teenagers and young adults can hang out and pass the time.

I personally love Amazon and use it frequently to purchase supplies for college (and to watch shows on Prime). I don't, however, want to see a world devoid of any sort of retail landscape at all. I have always enjoyed, and still do, walking through department stores and malls and all of them.

Even if I don't end up buying anything, it's just nice that they are there.

Online shopping, while it has its definite perks, is very impersonal. Brick-and-mortar stores need to upkeep a personable air about them through their employees because their customers actually need to interact with other people to complete transactions.

The closing of retail stores also affects the lives of the people who work there. When thousands of stores close each year, that puts tens of thousands of employees out of work.

It's not all doom and gloom for retail stores in America though. While it is true that many well-known brands have recently gone defunct, there are new retailers that are on the prowl to fill the vacuums these businesses left.

A reborn KB Toys is looking to replace Toys R Us as America's premier toy seller in 2018 with the announcement of 1,000 "pop-up" stores to be opened, just as an example. Also, even though many malls are under the threat of bankruptcy because of the closing of many major anchor stores this may not be a totally bad thing.

America currently has 1,200 malls and by 2023 it is estimated that only 900 will survive.

America, proportionate to its population, has too many malls right now for them to all be sustainable. Similar to the culling of a population of animals that has grown uncontrollably, these closures will most likely benefit the surviving malls immensely.
We are living in a very different retail world than when even I was a kid not too long ago. America's spending habits have changed. More of an emphasis has been put on online shopping and the recent "restaurant renaissance" than traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

While I find this sad in some ways, I am also hopeful for the future. It doesn't seem like retail shopping will be going anywhere soon.

Who knows, maybe someday in the future we'll be talking about a new "retail renaissance".