Man, I don’t have the fucking energy to write this. Kay Bee Toys is dead. Circuit City is dead. Borders is dead. Radioshack is that twenty year old cat, with no fur, half a functioning lung, and is too stubborn to realize it should have died a long time ago. Sears, Macys, and countless other companies, big and small, are tightening their belts, closing stores, laying off employees, and slashing hours and benefits like some masked killer in a horror film. You ever seen The Warriors? Do you remember this scene with the creepy ass clacking bottles? You know the feeling it gives you? That’s how I feel every time I walk into a mall these days. They’re like ghost towns and everyone who works in them always say shit like “Yeah, as soon as Anchor Store X’s lease is up, they’re leaving and this place will really be fucked.” Did you know that Wal-Mart is gonna expand its home delivery program? Did you know that various grocery stores, big and small, are trying to retain customers through similar delivery programs as well as buy online pick up in store? Remember all of those companies who lost their shirts with failed Omni-Channel programs? You know why? They’re all trying to keep their market share from being devoured by the big, bad wolf that is Amazon. It’s getting to the point where people who work retail, and all they’ve ever worked is retail, are starting to feel scared as shit. Ten and twenty years ago, when their job disappeared, they could just go across the street and pick up right where they left off. Today? Where are they gonna go? Malls of all kinds and sizes are fucking deserts. Big box stores, the ones that are open, are turning to computers and automation as much as possible to squeeze as much productivity as possible out of as few employees as possible. The jobs are disappearing, and fast. Wanna know how fucked retail is? In a non-numbers, no graphs kind of way? The McDonald’s near me is offering opening shifts with a starting pay of $10 an hour. There’s a gas station franchise in my city that’s offering benefits from day one. People are legitimately excited about Wal-Mart’s pay raises. I know people who are applying for these jobs. McDonalds’s. Gas Stations. Wal-Mart. When those places are becoming the hopeful lights you’re seeing on the horizon, you gotta realize you’re starting to live in some pretty dark times. If any of you have friends in retail, gently start nudging them somewhere else. If they don’t seem to budge, for their own sake, start poking the shit out of them. The ship their on is sinking, and if they think there’s a ship nearby waiting for them with a wool blanket and a cup of coffee, they need to know that ship is sinking too. I have friends that work for Toys R Us. Obviously, they won't for much longer. 30,000 jobs lost on this one. Fucking hell.