So What Are We Going to Do with the Retail Malls?

Jon Blogosphere, Economy, Market Commentary

The Painstaking Relentless Collapse of Brick-and-Mortar Retail.
‘Our fourth quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly-changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores,’ lamented Target CEO Brian Cornell this morning in the earnings release.
‘Unexpected’ is a hilarious choice of words. Because we, mere outsiders, have been vivisecting the now structural brick-and-mortar retail quagmire for a long time, and no deterioration is ‘unexpected.’
Target’s revenues in the fourth quarter fell 4.3% year-over-year to $20.7 billion. Revenues for the whole year dropped 5.8% to $69.5 billion. Down from $69.8 billion in fiscal 2011. That makes for six years of sales stagnation.
Net income plunged 43% to $817 million for the quarter, and 19% for the year to $2.7 billion. But at least, Target is still making money – unlike other retailers, many of which are either already in bankruptcy or are slithering toward it.

This post was published at Wolf Street by Wolf Richter ‘ Feb 28, 2017.