Malls are Yesterday's News

H.H.Gregg. Toys "R" Us. Radio Shack.

"What are 'Stores that all closed in 2017,' Alex?"

And now Sears, J.C. Penney, Claire's, J.Crew, Charlotte Russe, Bi-Lo, Barnes & Noble, Nine West, Payless Shoes, GNC, Vitamin World, and Perfumania all face the possibility of a similar fate.

Perfumania is that store you can't walk by without getting the stank all on ya. But they seem to do a business.  GNC sells that stuff that will make you look like Lou Ferrigno if you aren't careful, and Payless is where women go on Saturday afternoon when they need a pair of purple pumps for Saturday evening.

Walk through any mall and you'll see any of these stores.  

But - there aren't that many malls any more. A lot of huge malls are now distant memories where Sam's Clubs sit.

Two things I know about malls. The boom is over for them. There was a time when, if you went to another town, all the stores in the mall were different from the stores in "your" mall, but now, every store tends to be part of a nationwide chain, snaking across America. You notice this when you see a story on the news - there will be a story about a sad news event in Kankakee, Chattanooga, or Opelika, and behind the reporter you see a Panera Bread, a Bank of America, and a Home Depot.  

Just like home.

The other thing is that last week I needed kitty litter. Now, our cats are just ever so slightly spoiled, and will only do their business on Yesterday's News, which is a litter made of pellets of recycled newspapers.  I generally purchase it in big bags from the Giant Food or Pet-O-Mania, PetVille, or whatever they call it. 

But last week I couldn't find it on the shelves at the store, so I checked the price on Amazon late Friday night.

On Sunday afternoon, Amazon delivered three big bags of litter right to my front porch for less than the price of two big bags at the big pet stores, and I didn't have to hump them out of the store, into the car, and out of the garage.

Boom.