The Silver Lining

January of 2018 has already announced major big box retailers closing a bounty of locations. Admittedly, even I gulped when my local Sam’s Club suddenly closed their doors. That closing was followed by Toys R Us and Babies R Us also announcing stores closing in our region. Instinctively, my reaction was paralleled to the publics-one of fear. I’ve read, studied and researched these closings among others. Retailers, even wholesalers, have had to adapt to the shift in customer consumption behaviors. They have undergone a shift with online competition, even among themselves. The online sales of these exact stores, while created to compete with Amazon and other online bulk sales sites, have in turn damaged their own brick and mortar locations. The intention of capturing online sales and expanding clientele, backfired by directing buyers to online sales, thus the company was left with managing and carrying costs for both brick and mortar as well as online sales. I take away a valuable lesson from these stores that I would like to share with my readers. While customer service is crucial to any business, we as business owners must specialize and focus on what we do best. Spreading ourselves out into areas of practice or into ancillary services can backfire and ultimately be our demise. I question if Sam’s Club had remained true to their initial business plan, if their business would have a stronger footing today. The silver lining to these closures will be the opening of new brick and mortar stores, or even more exciting-a redevelopment of the big stores into new schools, experience driven institutions, or something in the creative arts.