Discussion: Retailer Dead Pool
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Because of competition from Amazon and other online retailers, brick and mortar retailers have been struggling. In addition to increased competition, many retailers have large amounts of debt, which puts them at risk of bankruptcy. Some, such as American Apparel, have already filed for bankruptcy and closed all their stores, and many others are struggling and close to bankruptcy. Here is one article on retailers that are in trouble; but there are probably even more recent cases:
Timmerman, M. (2017). Retail alert: This major electronics retailer is closing more than 1,000 stores. Cox Media Group. Retrieved from: http://clark.com/shopping-retail/major-retailers-closing-2017/
If you and your coworkers or classmates got together to bet on a “dead pool” of which retailer will go bankrupt soon, which retail chain would you bet would be the next to fall? Base your guess on what you have read in the news, or what you have personally observed in terms of a retail shop being empty when you go there or having prices too high to compete with Amazon.