America's changing retail landscape highlights our Brave, New, Unequal World

[Simfan34]

Where would American Apparrel fit?

That place is not cheap, you know. It's for the young people with the "hipster" streak. Young people living off if parent's moneu. Often.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

You can't blame JC Penney's troubles on the middle class disappearing. It's a terrible store that's unpleasant to visit with poor management. The company tried to get rid of all discounts and embrace a "fair pricing strategy," and all its customers fled. Not that its customers weren't fleeing already.

The company recently brought back it's old sale price shell game, leading Time to declare "J.C. Penney's pricing is faker than ever." And a J.C. Penney employee was recently fired for discussing fake prices publicly.

Ultimately, the biggest problem for middle class brick-and-mortar retailers is the Internet. Upper class brick-and-mortar will do fine, because upper class stores pay more attention to creating a pleasant customer experience. The larger the size of the purchase, the more likely someone is to want to make that purchase in person. Even a high roller isn't going to buy a $10K watch sight unseen.

On the other side of the economic spectrum, the poor are more geared towards instant gratification. Out of necessity, of course.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Where would American Apparrel fit?

That place is not cheap, you know. It's for the young people with the "hipster" streak. Young people living off if parent's moneu. Often.

American Apparel isn't super expensive, either. You'll pay $20 for a T-shirt, but you're getting a higher quality garment that's made in America. You also get a better fitting, more comfortable shirt.

[Person Man]

Where would American Apparrel fit?

That place is not cheap, you know. It's for the young people with the "hipster" streak. Young people living off if parent's moneu. Often.

American Apparel isn't super expensive, either. You'll pay $20 for a T-shirt, but you're getting a higher quality garment that's made in America. You also get a better fitting, more comfortable shirt.

Seems a lot like Polo?

[Indy Texas]

Where would American Apparrel fit?

That place is not cheap, you know. It's for the young people with the "hipster" streak. Young people living off if parent's moneu. Often.

American Apparel isn't super expensive, either. You'll pay $20 for a T-shirt, but you're getting a higher quality garment that's made in America. You also get a better fitting, more comfortable shirt.

I went in an American Apparel store once and felt like I was in some dingy thrift shop. Fluorescent lights buzzing and flickering overhead. Clothing racks so close together, you could barely walk down the aisles. Staff consisting entirely of disinterested hipsters who sat at the counter playing on their phones and offering no help whatsoever.

[Simfan34]

Where would American Apparrel fit?

That place is not cheap, you know. It's for the young people with the "hipster" streak. Young people living off if parent's moneu. Often.

American Apparel isn't super expensive, either. You'll pay $20 for a T-shirt, but you're getting a higher quality garment that's made in America. You also get a better fitting, more comfortable shirt.

Seems a lot like Polo?

Polo is prep for arrivistes who don't know any better or people who can't afford Brooks Brothers, Vineyard Vines, et al. (Disclosure: I fall in the latter category, perhaps even the former as well, and shop at Uniqlo for my oxfords.) American Apparel caters to a very specific demographic, which is made clear the moment you walk in the store.

But broadly speaking I think you're going to see more and more of the general-market retailers ape high-end goods, and I'd say more successfully than not. I found myself walking on the street (Park Avenue, of all places- mind you I was seeing the doctor) the other day, and I saw a rather sleek car and wondered "what car is that"- it was a Nissan! A Nissan, looking a great deal like an Audi- not at all out of place! You see it at stores like Uniqlo offering pastel sweaters, cardigans, funky socks; hitherto the sole preserve of places like J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, or Banana Republic (stores for the upper-middles, that is) and cut-throat prices. I insist that place is like crack cocaine- you can't stop once you enter. Or take something like Missoni at Target- high fashion for the masses (I think).

But the point is it is becoming easier to offer what was once the marks of status at lower prices and to broad audiences, I suppose the high-end retailers must react by making their offerings even more exclusive and lean more on branding (I am reminded of a joke about two noveaux riche "New Russians" talking about one's new tie, "I bought it for $400 at that store over there," he says. "You got ripped off," says the other."You could have bought it at twice the price across the street!")

With minimal physical differentiation- whether it be shared leather seats, in-car Spotify services, under-arm refrigerators, or button down collars that roll properly, cashmere sweaters, or whatever- being offered at both high-and-low end, more effort will be expended on denying lower-end customers certain services and appealing to the brand's cachet- it's "heritage", "prestige", "reputation", and so forth.

And perhaps they'll try to ensure that the consumer fits the brand as well- which returns to my experience at American Apparel. The moment I walked in there, I knew there was little I would ever want to wear, and even less I could actually wear without looking ridiculous. From the attitude of the salespeople to the decor, I was signaled this was not for me. Whereas, say, walking into Brooks Brothers (with a friend), it became very obvious I was regarded as a potential valued consumer.

[pbrower2a]

You can't blame JC Penney's troubles on the middle class disappearing. It's a terrible store that's unpleasant to visit with poor management. The company tried to get rid of all discounts and embrace a "fair pricing strategy," and all its customers fled. Not that its customers weren't fleeing already.

The traditional department store is a dying business. Montgomery-Ward vanished several years ago. So did Mervyn's, one of the later but still-large players in the business. I could tell you about many other regional entities.

The assumption that one could get just about everything that one wanted in a department store died as the department stores went to the malls.  The kids started to want specialized items that the department stores just did not sell, but boutique-like stores did sell. The boutique stores were tailored for white-middle-class families and were run rigidly... and they couldn't adapt even to ethnic change.

Kohl's and Target adopted the model of the grocery-store checkout and quit pretending to have specialized clerks knowledgeable about merchandise.
 
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The upper class has less need to get a bargain, and merchandisers catering to them don't need quick sales at high volumes at low markups as does Wal*Mart. It's willing to pay a high markup for distinction in its purchases.

The stores that have disappeared are the brick-and-mortar stores with middle-class clients. Amazon killed the likes of Sam Goody's/Musicland/Suncoast and even Tower Records because people are willing to buy on line what they can get in three days from Amazon for $2 less in video or music. Internet purchases kill the impulse shopping that on-site retailing offers.

Most of the former Sam Goody's locations that I used to see are now sites of rent-to-own ripoff outfits appealing to people who can't figure that paying $20 a week for a year for a DVD player is bad math. You would think that people could save some money by saving a $15 a week and paying cash for the purchase.   

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Not if the jalopy necessary for getting to work breaks down. Not if the washing machine or refrigerator goes bad. Not if the box springs (those aren't being made any more) lose their spring. It's hard to plan ahead if one is poor. Of course mass poverty is good for some profiteers who can buy the unique merchandise at "Needless Markup" for themselves and their loved ones. 

[pbrower2a]

One warning sign that I saw about the department store business was that thirty years ago the peak age for its customer was 59. Unless one has a business that by the nature of its product must depend upon elderly customers (let us say medical devices) who will replace each other as one generation replaces another in old age, having an elderly clientele and especially a clientele getting increasingly elderly indicates a troubled operation.     

Personal service as part of the sale has become increasingly irrelevant with most consumer goods. Self-service is the norm with ready-to-wear items, tools, housewares, sporting goods, and office supplies. Even appliances and many big-ticket consumer objects go that way.  The Sears-K Mart merger shows that if K-Mart can sell Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools, then the department store model is obsolete. 

[Person Man]

So the jist has been that you now only go to the store to go to the store.