KCRW’s To The Point – June 29, 2017
Hosted by León Krauze
Retail in America is undergoing a revolution. As consumers turn to e-commerce to buy everything from diapers to appliances, big box stores are becoming obsolete. Macy’s, JC Penney and RadioShack are cutting thousands of retail jobs across the country. That’s good news for Amazon, and other online retailers, but bad news for brick-and-mortar stores and shopping malls that are slowly vanishing from America’s landscape. Cashiers and salespeople outnumber the manufacturing and coal workers we hear so much about. How will traditional retailers – and the thousands who work for them – stay alive in the time of Amazon?
Guests:
Rachel Abrams, New York Times (@RachelAbramsNY)
Marshall Steinbaum, Roosevelt Institute (@econ_marshall)
Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (@stacyfmitchell)
Geoffrey Manne, International Center for Law & Economics (@geoffmanne)
More:
Abrams on growth of e-commerce, labor’s struggle to adapt
Abrams on the fight among grocers to deliver perishables
Steinbaum on concern about Amazon-Whole Foods merger
Mitchell on Amazon’s stranglehold
Manne on Amazon not actually annihilating retail jobs
