It's been nearly a month since a quarter of a million stores closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. That's 60% of America's retail square footage. The longer the pandemic lasts, the bigger the impact may be.
If you're an essential business, you can operate. For all others it's been a painful month, since first closures were enforced in the first half of March. For many brands this means having to reinvent themselves or face the brutal prospect of vanishing from the map.
As delivery apps like instacart and giants like Costco or Walmart are gaining further grip on the market... nearly nobody is buying new clothes. And even at Walmart you will notice that in-store fashion has been largely replaced by more household goods. “Almost overnight, the retail economy shifted from being about things people want to things that they need.” says Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.
