Retail Shakeout of 2017

In Knowledge@Wharton

Who Will Survive the Retail Reckoning of 2017?

Legacy retailers’ ongoing struggle to stay relevant in a landscape increasingly dominated by Amazon and online upstarts has come to a head in the past year. Companies will close thousands of stores this year – and some may not survive at all.

While it may seem that retail is headed for an apocalypse dominated by dead malls, in reality it’s a needed industry shakeout.

“The U.S. is overstored and we’re in the middle of a painful reset,” said Carrie Ask, executive vice president and president of global retail for Levi Strauss. “What’s dominating the headlines is that retail is not successful; it’s not transforming fast enough. But when you pull back the top layer, that perception is people’s reaction to all of these headlines talking about store closures.” .... "