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American Malls In Meltdown - The Economic Recovery Is Complete & Utter Fraud
Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,
The government issued their monthly retail sales this past week and four of the biggest department store chains in the country announced their quarterly results. The year over year retail sales increase of 2.4% is pitifully low in an economy that is supposedly in its sixth year of economic growth with a reported unemployment rate of only 5.3%. If all of these jobs have been created, why aren’t retail sales booming?
The year to date numbers are even worse than the year over year numbers. With consumer spending accounting for 70% of our GDP and real inflation running north of 5%, it’s pretty clear most Americans are experiencing a recession, despite the propaganda data circulated by the government and Fed. The only people not experiencing a recession are corporate executives enriching themselves through stock buybacks, Wall Street bankers using free Fed Bucks while rigging the the markets in their favor, politicians and government bureaucrats reaping their bribes from billionaire oligarchs, and the media toadies who dispense the Deep State approved propaganda to keep the ignorant masses dazed, confused, and endlessly distracted by Cecil the Lion, Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, Ferguson, and blood coming out of whatever.
You won’t hear CNBC, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal or any corporate mainstream media outlet reference the fact retail sales growth is at the exact same levels as when recession hit in 2008 and 2001. Their job is to regurgitate the message of economic recovery and confidence in the future, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Retail sales are actually far worse than the 2.4% reported number. Excluding the subprime debt fueled auto sales, retail sales only grew by 1.3% in the last year. The automakers are practically giving vehicles away as their lots are stuffed with inventory. The length of auto loans and the average amount of auto loans are now at all-time highs. The percentage of subprime auto loans is surging to record levels, as defaults begin to rise. The percentage of vehicles being leased is also at an all-time high. To call these “auto sales” strains credibility. These people are either perpetually renting their vehicles or just driving them until the repo man shows up.

The relatively strong year over year furniture sales is also driven by the fact that you can finance the purchase at 0% interest for seven years. All is well for the Ally Financial, GE Capital and the myriad of fly by night subprime lenders until the recession arrives, unemployment soars, and defaults skyrocket. Then their bloated debt ridden balance sheets will explode in an avalanche of defaults. That’s when they insist on another taxpayer bailout to “save the financial system”.
The year over year crash in oil prices was supposed to result in a huge spending splurge by the masses, according to the media talking heads. You don’t hear much about that storyline anymore. The talking heads are now worried that oil prices are too low. I guess the tens of thousands of layoffs in the oil industry and the obliteration of the Wall Street financed shale oil fraud storyline is offsetting the $10 per week in gasoline savings for the average driver.
At least restaurant and bar sales remain strong. It seems Americans have decided to eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow they die. I do believe there is some truth to that saying in today’s world. I think people are drowning their sorrows by drinking and eating. They’ve drastically reduced buying stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have. Spending their gas savings at a restaurant or bar is still doable.
With real median household income at 1989 levels, real unemployment north of 15%, a massive level of under-employment, young people unable to buy a home – saddled with $1 trillion of student loan debt, middle aged parents struggling to take care of their aging parents and struggling children, and Boomers who never saved for their retirement, the mood of the country is decidedly dark and getting darker by the day. The rise of Trump and Sanders in the polls is an indication of this dissatisfaction with the existing social order.
The part of the retail report flashing red is the sales of General Merchandise stores, and particularly department stores. This category includes the likes of Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Sears, Macy’s, Kohls, and JC Penney. General merchandise sales fell 0.5% in July, with Department store sales dropping by 0.8%. Sales at these behemoth retailers have barely budged in the last year, with overall sales up a dreadful 0.3%. The dying department stores have seen their sales plummet by 2.7%. The talk of a retail revival is dead on arrival. Wal-Mart and Target muddle on with lackluster results, while JC Penney and Sears continue their Bataan Death March towards the retail graveyard.
The false narrative of economic recovery can be blown to smithereens by the historical data on the Census Bureau website. Their time series data goes back to 1992. GDP has supposedly risen by 22% since 2007. General merchandise sales were $48.4 billion in July 2007. They were $56.1 billion in July 2015. That’s a 15.9% increase in eight years. Even the manipulated and massaged BLS CPI figure has increased 14.5% over this same time frame. That means that REAL retail sales at the nation’s biggest retailers has been virtually flat for the last eight years. Does that happen during an economic recovery?
The department store data is almost beyond comprehension. July department store sales were the lowest in the history of the data series. Sales of $13.8 billion were 22% below the July 2007 level of $17.6 billion. They were 28% below the peak level of $19.2 billion in 1999. Real department store sales are 36.5% BELOW where they were in 2007, and Wall Street shysters have had buy ratings on these stocks the whole way down. These worthless hucksters remove the buy rating the day before these dinosaur department stores declare bankruptcy. Excluding the debt driven auto sales, real retail sales are flat with 2008 levels.
The data from the Census Bureau has been more than confirmed by the absolutely atrocious financial results reported by Macy’s, Kohls, Sears and J.C. Penney. Retailers do not report results this poor during economic recoveries. The results clearly point to an ongoing recession for the middle and lower classes who do the majority of working and spending in this country. The rich continue to spend their stock market winnings at exclusive boutiques and high end retailers like Nordstrom, but the average American is being sucked into the abyss by rising food prices, rent, home prices, tuition, and the Obamacare driven health insurance and medical costs. With declining real wages, they have less and less disposable income to spend buying cheap Chinese crap at their local mall department stores.
Here is a glimpse into the results of department store dinosaurs headed towards extinction:
Macy’s
- Overall sales fell 2.6%, while comparable store sales fell by 2.1%, as Macy’s continues to close under-performing stores. News flash: there are many more stores to close.
- Profits crashed by 25.7% as gross margins declined and expenses rose.
- Cash flow from operations has declined by a staggering 46% in the first six months of this year.
- The bozos running this sinking retailer have mind bogglingly burned through $787 million of cash, while adding $452 million in long term debt to buyback their own stock. Executive compensation is stock based, so wasting close to $1.6 billion in the last year as sales and profits fall, is considered prudent management by the CEO.
- Despite falling sales, the management of this sinking ship have increased inventory by $200 million in the last year. This bodes well for margins in the second half of the year.
- The long-term future for this retailer gets bleaker by the day as their long-term debt, pension liabilities, and other long term obligations total $10.4 billion, while their declining stockholder’s equity totals $4.8 billion.
- To show you how far Macy’s has come in the last nine years you just need to compare their results from the 2nd quarter of 2006 to today. They registered sales of $6.0 billion versus $6.1 billion today. On a real, inflation adjusted basis, their sales have fallen by 16% over the nine year period. They had profits of $317 million in 2006, 46% more than the $217 million in the 2nd quarter of 2015. They had $13.6 billion of equity and $8.2 billion of long-term debt.
- And now for the best part. Despite generating 46% less income than they did 9 years ago, Macy’s stock sits at $63 per share, while it traded at $36 per share in 2006. A company with declining revenue, declining profits and a bleak future should not be sporting a PE ratio of 16. When this recession really takes hold, their 2009 price level of $9 per share will be challenged on its way to Radio Shack land – $0 per share.
Kohl’s
- Overall sales were up a pathetic 0.6% after last year’s 2nd quarter sales were lower than 2013. Comp store sales were up only 0.1% after being down 1.3% the previous year.
- Profits fell precipitously by a mere 44% versus the prior year, down by $102 million. Margins fell while expenses rose.
- In the lemming like behavior of corporate CEOs across the land, this struggling retailer thought it was a brilliant idea to go $330 billion further into debt, while buying back $543 million of stock in the first six months.
- While sales are essentially flat, the executives of this company ratcheted up their inventory levels by 9% in the last year. Flat sales growth and surging inventory levels leads to plunging margins and profits. I guess that’s why I got a 30% off everything coupon in the mail last week.
- Cash from operations has crashed by 52% in the first six months. You would think prudent executives would be using a half a billion of cash to buy stock and boost their compensation packages.
- Another comparison to yesteryear provides some perspective on how well Kohl’s is performing. During the 2nd quarter of 2007 they generated $3.6 billion of sales and $269 million of profits. Their overall sales are up 19% (3% on a real basis) even though they have increased their store base by 38%. Profits in 2015 were 52% lower than 2007.
- Sales per store is 14% lower today than it was in 2007. And even more worrisome for their long term survival, inventory levels are up 59% compared to the 19% increase in sales.
- Again, the stock price peaked in 2007 at $76 and earlier this year reached a new all-time high of $79. Despite deteriorating financial conditions, poor management, plunging cash levels, and nothing on the horizon to portend a turnaround, the stock trades at a PE ratio of 13.
Sears
- Sears hasn’t reported their 2nd quarter results yet, but pre-announced that same store sales crashed by 10.6% versus last year. They are truly dead retailer walking, as Eddie Lampert’s real estate maneuvers attempt to hide the coming bankruptcy from unsuspecting investors is nothing but smoke and mirrors perpetuated by Eddie and his Wall Street shyster bankers. Excluding his desperate real estate schemes, they will lose another $300 million.
- In the last four years, during an economic recovery, Sears has seen their sales crater from $43 billion to $31 billion, and still falling. They have managed to lose $7.4 billion in just over four years and their stock still trades at $25 per share – proving there is a sucker born every minute.
- They continue to close hundreds of stores and still can’t stop the hemorrhaging. The decade of using financial gimmicks rather than investing in his stores is coming home to roost for Eddie “the next Warren Buffett” Lampert. Of course, he will arrange matters in a way where he wins, while the stockholders lose when the bankruptcy papers are filed.
- The balance sheet is a disaster. They have generated a Negative cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion in the last twelve months. They have burned through $556 million of cash. They have $8.4 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities, with equity of NEGATIVE $1.2 billion.
- Sears may be the worst run business in America, and its chances of going bankrupt are 100%, but the Wall Street hype machine has its stock price at $25 per share, 20% higher than it was in late 2008. For some perspective, Sears’ 2nd quarter 2008 revenues totaled $11.8 billion and they made a $65 million profit. Sales in the 2nd quarter of 2015 will be approximately $6 billion with a loss of at least $300 million. Of course their stock should be higher.
J.C. Penney
- I found it humorous to see the Wall Street hucksters and their mainstream media mouthpieces cheering on the J.C. Penney 2nd quarter results as “better than expected” and proof they have turned the corner. Their overall sales went up by 2.7% and comp store sales went up by 4.1%, as they continue to close stores. For some perspective on this tremendous sales gain to $2.9 billion, their sales in the 2nd quarter of 2009 were $3.9 billion. When your sales are still 26% below where they were six years ago, maybe you shouldn’t be crowing too much.
- It seems Wall Street and the MSM didn’t really want to focus on the only thing that matters – profits. They lost another $138 million and have racked up $305 million of losses so far this year. They have lost money for 13 consecutive quarters. That is no easy feat. They have managed to lose $3.6 billion in the last four and a half years, while driving their annual sales from $18 billion to $12 billion.
- Their balance sheet isn’t as horrific as Sears’, but it is nothing to write home about. They have $6.2 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities, supported by a mere $1.6 billion of equity. Back in 2011 they had $5.5 billion of equity to support $4.9 billion of long term liabilities. The deterioration of this once proud retailer is clear to anyone with two eyes and a brain. So that eliminates all CNBC pundits and guests.
- Wall Street pumped the stock 5% higher on Friday to celebrate their $138 million loss. A company that is on track to lose $500 million has seen its stock price rise 32% this year on hopes and dreams. Wall Street has had buy ratings on this stock from its peak of $82 per share in 2007 on its 90% downward path to its current price. I’m sure they’re right this time.
The truly disturbing revelation from the Census Bureau data and the terrible financial results being reported by some of the biggest retailers in the world is that it is occurring with unemployment at 5.3%, the economy in the sixth year of a recovery, and a Fed who has pumped $3 trillion into the banking system while still keeping interest rates at 0%. What happens when we roll back into the next official recession, unemployment soars, and consumers really stop spending?
What is revealed when you look under the hood of this economic recovery is that it is a complete and utter fraud. The recovery is nothing but smoke and mirrors, buoyed by subprime auto debt, really subprime student loan debt, corporate stock buybacks, and Fed financed bubbles in stocks, real estate, and bonds. The four retailers listed above are nothing but zombies, kept alive by the Fed’s ZIRP and QE, as they stumble towards their ultimate deaths. The coming recession will be the knife through their skulls, putting them out of their misery.

“Retail chains are a fundamentally implausible economic structure if there’s a viable alternative. You combine the fixed cost of real estate with inventory, and it puts every retailer in a highly leveraged position. Few can survive a decline of 20 to 30 percent in revenues. It just doesn’t make any sense for all this stuff to sit on shelves.”
Marc Andreessen
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I just hope that B & N can keep their bookstores open...
I'll take a Mcmac, 2 Mcfries, and a Mcshake to go please.
This is keynesian bullshit. Constant spending on useless crap alone is a keynesian model for growth. People are probably just finally being choked out by their entirely "sustainable" debt levels.
Kids use malls for drug deals an honing their shoplifting skills.
And scoring van halen tickets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7AymEzZXCk
Goodbye empty Mall..
Hello empty Lifestyle Center.
Shocker..... not really especially if you been paying attention the last 7+ years
Layoff / Closing List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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SO, who would be building a BRAND NEW mall in this economiic climate? Why Simon Properties would, possibly because they have a contract with DHS. Their new mall in Marana, AZ is kind of strange. It seems to have what can only be described as guard towers around the perimeter.http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/07/01/how-fast-can-a-strip-mall-b...
Oooops, Implied Violins posted this below. All apologies, going to junk ourselves for assuming but if one extra person sees this then it was not in vain.
No junk, different link, same subject :)
If people want to delve into Dave Hodge's articles on this subject, notice that many malls which have 'guard towers' are conveniently near major highways and rail lines, and that the entire compound can easily be fenced off with razor wire.
Also note that 'Wal Mart' is a play on "MARtial LAW." As usual, right in front of our noses...
USA mahls were only filled with used transvestors anyway.
This might be good news. Americans do too much shopping anyway. We need to spend more time killing lions in Africa. Word to your mother.
Once the last mall closes, Amazon will start making big profits.
But ZH doesn't cover the Amazon/NYT expose.
Stunning...as in W_T_F.
Jim Quim being shrill as usual. 2% growth isn't a meltdown, faggot. Anything positive should be considered good news.
The guard towers are creepy as fuck. Once upon a time, kids would skate outside the mall without being hassled too bad.
test
Every time I tell someone about the "Guard Towers" they think I am a crazy fuck (may be true) and then later they tell me that it's scary but I am right, all the new "malls" have them and only a few entrances and exits that can be easily fenced...
Indoor malls have been obsolete since the year 2000. Old malls that were popular in the 60s through the early 90s and became blighted abandoned eyesores by the late 90s were torn down in the early 2000s and replaced with big boxes.
Big boxes aren't obsolete yet, but are on their home stretch.
After the boomers die off, everyone else who knows how to turn on a computer will be ordering online, with Amazon being on the forefront. The big boxes have to evolve or die. I know Walmart has "Site to store" but they will need much more than that in upcoming years to stay relevant.
Big boxes are actually smaller now than they were 10 years ago. Instead of carrying everything in a supercenter format, they use A.I. analysis studying the zip code and only stock product that tailors to that area. For example a ghetto Walmart wouldn't have a camping section, but one in a rural area would have a huge camping section.
Supercenters are obsolete because customers are too ignorant to find their way around the store.
As for the doomsday commercial real estate scenario proposed in the article, I'm laughing. Yes malls built in the 1970s are dead and obsolete, but commercial real estate evolved. For example the airport in Scottsdale, Arizona was surrounded by desert as recently as the early 2000s, now it is fully developed. The tenants have a ONLINE presence. Contemporary business needs office/industrial space, and no longer needs retail space.
Main Street USA with mom and pops only can have customers that live in town. Nowadays those mom and pops can sell their product online out of a home office and have customers worldwide.
It's sad that I have to explain these novice concepts on a financial blog. This should have been beyond obvious to anyone who works in finance or real estate. Wearing nostalgia goggles and whining about the demise of indoor malls which happened 15 years ago is silly. If you're involved with commercial real estate, you would see the opportunity for re-development to cater to emerging markets.
This is why my mentor sees Zero Hedge as "entertainment" and he asks why I even bother to comment on something that doesn't even get me paid.
Does the author really mean "fraud"? ... or did he mean to say "the economic recovery is an utter frog," as in "Ribbit, Ribbit"?
Excuse me sir, I have a question...Why don't getto people buy camping equipment?
Good question wb7. It's because campgrounds and national forests are located beyond the city bus route, lol. Even if they could get a ride out there, there's no "hustle" out in the woods.
NYET.
Why pay for stuff when you can steal it from Whitey?
First rule of camping: always camp more than an hour from any urban center. As we and many of our friends have found out, a high percentage of city people (especially the poor ones) are loud, obnoxious and do not observe quiet hours. The last time we camped within the one hour drive distance of a city there were numerous Hispanic campers, playing music loudly and threatening anyone that requested they tone things down. Ya, they're equal.
Because of racism.
"Why don't ghetto people buy camping equipment?"
Same thought occurred to me, since the homeless around here are living in tents with sleeping bags, campstoves, etc.
i'm not sure transformative use of legacy real estate is going to suck up all the supply out there. it's going to be quite a rocky road with progress not assured. i stopped trying to make money on real estate long ago as i saw quite a few ETF's get maniuplated in the exact opposite direction as all the metrics said otherwise. the way to go is to invest locally with things you can understand and get your arms around. the stock market is one giant casino where the house is rigged so against you you might as well leave your chips at the door and never go in.
Those are not guard towers...looks like architectural elements meant for future cellular tenants.
They forgot about the mirror image: online shopping.
does anyone have the per square foot cost of converting these buildings into detention centers?
i'm guessing about $200 psf. that would not include a personal spa, library or internet service...
O-ba-ma... O-ba-ma... O-ba-ma...
What part of the recovery does empty shopping malls fall under?
It's a HUD program, suburban renewal.
http://www.boredpanda.com/nature-reclaiming-civilization/
Pfffftt 200sf!
This is .Gov work, starting croney bids @ 4000sf and over runs will push it to 18,000 s.f
Gotta be more than that once you factor in the 'guard towers' that are being added to malls (that I keep reading about).
<<does anyone have the per square foot cost of converting these buildings into detention centers?>>
Ask DHS.
$280
with slave labor to put it up...
Minimal! just a little razor wire and you have acres closed in with kitchens and bathrooms and cages already in place. Those wire curtains on the windows keep people in the same as out...
Not to worry, Amazon will take over all the empty space to house their cloud servers.
No, Not really. Cloud servers are generally located where the electricity is the cheapest. Large empty retail spaces of big box stores are more likely to fill up with things like a Gold's Gym or an indoor electric Go-Kart raceway or a local church. At least that is what I'm seeing happen to all of the local large empty retail stores.
I've seen each of those conversions even in supposedly flush areas of California (except it's been Crunch Fitness instead of Gold's). That happened in a major mall about ten minutes south of downtown San Francisco. Of course, the anchor tenants in that mall are Macys (pretty much always empty), JC Penney (pretty much always empty) and Target (pretty much always full). The smaller shops around the mall include a no so diverse mixture of some teen clothing stores, tons of cell phone kiosks and store fronts, numerous shoe outlets and more cosmetic stores than I care to count. Besides Target, however, the only thing that seems to do a decent business is the food court.
The same is true in another mall about ten miles from there. Anchor tenants are Target, Penney and Sears. The only thing there that does well is a Century Theater.
At the mall closest to me, the anchors are Macys, Sears and Nordstrom. None of those does squat in terms of business. In fact, the Sears will likely be closing soon and this is what the local newspaper says will replace it.
A revised proposal to redevelop a large portion of the Hillsdale Shopping Center into a luxury cinema, bowling alley and fitness center along with retail and restaurant space received a warm welcome by residents and city officials Tuesday night.
Retail is simply not doing well.
Fuck Amazon, shopping malls, mindless spending on useless crap, ego-maniacal expenditures n cosmetics and the rest of the false self esteem (false pride) fuelers, mobile phones and the like and the rest of this dismal reality into which we're supposed to gleefully rush with gratitude for Big Brother and Corporateocracy in abundance, arms raised to the false Prophets and God of Mammon.
Fuck it all.
My oh my, the cynicism is alive and well tonight, is it not?
That's a lot of fucking, K man.
To paraphrase "Jaws"...
"We're gonna need a bigger strap-on!"
Saying fuck twice is hardly a world's record. If it were a garnish, I'd say it was properly used.
He wasn't talking about how many times the guy used the word fuck. Grab a clue wouldja - by any means necessary. Fuck.
I stand corrected, fucker.
Fuck all you fucking fuckers.
Global Economy 2015:
The fucking fucker's fucking fucked.
Bring back 'LongSoupLine'! Dam I miss that magnificent bastard. He set the bench mark for number of 'Fucks'. Every second word was fuck, I mean he would bring up fuck all the time, say fuck at a whim, fuck this, fuck that, fuck it all. Just fuck, fuck fuck. All the time fuck. But he gave more than meaning to the word 'fuck'. He gave it structure and poignance. He gave it reference and emphasis. When LongSoupLine said 'fuck', everyone listened. As a resut of LongSoupLine I have much more understanding and appreciation of the word 'fuck'. For that I am truly grateful. Massive respect LongSoupLine, you will not be forgotten.
He set the bench mark for number of 'Fucks'. Every second word was fuck...
Hmmm - must've been from the Bronx ..... e.g. "Hey, dis fuckin' salad dressin' is fuckin' great. Where da fuck you get fuckin' salad dressin' like dis?" ... and that's polite conversation - lol
Fuck Amazon, indeed.
Check out this article about the business culture @ Amazon. If corporations are people, then Amazon is a sociopath (and, like all corporate 'people', it's immortal. Yeaaaa!!!).
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.htmlI've placed my last order with Amazon. I won't support an organization like this by giving it any more of my money.
I'll continue to do business with Amazon after reading that article... however... I would NEVER give Jeff Bezos my resume.
If a middle manager gave me an e-mail at 12:30am on a Saturday morning, I would get back with him on Monday morning. It's a retailer, not an on-call health professional. Family comes first, your pipedream comes second, or third, or whenever I get around to it because my schedule is busy.
That's what I like about my current gig. Regular business hours. Best of all, I accomplish more closing one deal, than I did working YEARS in dead end retail when I was younger.
Jeff Bezos is busy watching movies with his family on weekends, but expects an employee to attend a conference call on Thanksgiving. He deliberately gives his employees bad reviews as some sort of psychological game. Those Jedi Mind Tricks don't work on me. I laugh at that garbage as comedy. That's why I get along with my mentor so well, because I don't fall for that nonsense. I tell it how it is. I didn't get stressed by incompetent managers, back in my employee days. You just call their bluff, and call them out.
The other thing is, is that I wouldn't want to be an "employee". Being an "employee" is the 20th and 21st Century version of indentured servitude or slavery. The only "job" I would be interested in over at Amazon is to be Bezos. Just like Bezos, I'm fascinated by entrepreneurs, and bored shitless by employees with employee mindsets.
How you doing today? Just living someone else's dream.
Worse yet is that these Amazon alumns then leave and spread this shit to other companies.
I love how many who deal with such alumni refer to them as Amholes.
Yeah, but Crunch & Fresh & Sleazy only take 1/2 or 1/3 the empty boxes...
I was wondering what it would take to demolish that Sears store....place looks like a scene from I Am Legend with Will Smith. San Mateo is stepping it up!
Sorry Douglas Adams, you were wrong: We've reached the "Phone event horizon," not the "Shoe Event horizon!"
Guys, guys, guys - oh yee of little faith! Please do not fret and listen to our coporate overlords, they tell us everythign is awesome!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StTqXEQ2l-Y
At this point I think even Keynes would bristle at what economists are now saying with a straight face. However, his "borrow during tough times" excuse-making opened the door to today, so no pass for him.
Also, "sustainable debt" is such a ridiculous notion, that we must be in Bizarro World for anyone credible to accept it. The purpose of debt was to purchase capital which would make a person/business productive enough for the loan to be fast and easy to pay back. Borrowing to spend on crap you don't need, which won't help you to become legitimately more productive, is a mathematically proven path to poverty.
That total consumption has to keep pace with per worker productivity to maintain employment is less Keynesian and more simple logic ... or kaczynskian if you prefer.
If the useless eaters don't keep consuming almost all of us will be useless eaters before long.
"Constant spending on useless crap alone is a keynesian model for growth. "
Constant spending on useless crap (although technically it doesn't have to be useless) keeps the economy afloat at its *current* level.
*Reducing* the current level of spending on useless crap creates a deflationary spiral (which is what is happening now).
Actual growth requires innovation and higher productivity.
Malls - The cathedrals of consumption.
The skeletal remnants of a dying culture.
Burns me up! https://www.facebook.com/bama.watson.9/videos/vb.100006784955008/1439661...
...and soon to be the means of incarcerating a dying populace?
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/08/14/architects-confirm-shopping...
Thanks for the interesting link. I'm going to look at malls differently from now on.
I got stuck in traffic today driving past our huge older inside mall and the huge more modern outdoor mall next to it, watching throngs of sheeple bumbling around. The newer mall is replete with trolly cars, guards with very stupid looking uniforms and hats; its all right out of Disneyland. I detest both those places, though with a teenage daughter I am occasionally forced to make a visit (as quick as I can).
I don't like what I hear about Amazon's corporate culture, but frankly they do a bangup job and keep me away from the malls. I have toilet paper, paper towels, dog food, and some other items on Subscribe and Save and it works great for me.
"Up 2.4%"
Bull shit, love to see the real numbers.
Scary still is the fact that that 2.4% number was probably highly "massaged, and is being reported against an economy really experiencing price-inflation of over 10%.
My ballpark estimate: Retails sales slid a further 9% to 11%.
Liberty is demand. Tyranny is submission..
My dad knows an auto parts store owner in the town he lives. During talk with the owner about prices at the grocery stores, the owner said that his year-over-year sales are up by over 7%. However, his inventory reorder prices are up over 15%. "And there it is!"
auto parts stores are actually doing pretty well, the big chains at least. Advanced auto parts is one of the only 'normal' stocks I still own, and it has done absolutely great, its up like 40% since Ive owned it. The reason I bought the stock and the reason its doing so well is that during this "recovery" the average age of vehicles on the road has continued to go up while new car sales, not so much. People are trying to save money by keeping their old cars longer, and more and more people are working on them thmselves. I consider it a sort of 'short' on the big auto makers. The other one I own is UPS, which has also done very well, but Ive had it for a very long time. I consider UPS to be a sort of 'short' on all the big box retail stores, since more and more people are doing their shopping online and having it shipped to them.
The USA never recovered from 9/11. The trillions spent on oil wars and TARP payments to the 0.01% have only made things worse. The only way to turn things around is to start sending Bush and Clinton family members and big bankers (and former AG Holder) to serve lengthy prison sentences in SuperMax for their profiting and protecting the drug cartels poisoning America.
How about sending the Klintins, Busches and Holders to the front lines...if they want war so badly let them lead the way.
A huge section of The Peirre Bossier Mall is now the home to Virginia College, teaching Business and Medical Office and Billing. The good news is after earning a degree from VC students can go right to work in the mall food court.
And when the one-payer medical system comes in (which it surely will) all of those medical billers and their HMOs will be rendered obsolete overnight.
" So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? "
== Clifford Stoll in Newsweek, 1995
http://www.newsweek.com/clifford-stoll-why-web-wont-be-nirvana-185306
Oh how things have changed...
Malls plus Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, Kohls were for a middle class in America that no longer exists. F em.
Macy's is a tribe outfit as is Democrat Herb Kohl's family store and also the Dem gov of Minnesota aka little Somalia who's family owns Target. Sears is tribe aka that hedge fund manager who was kidnapped. I forget his name.
I'm pretty sure Kohl sold out about 15 years ago. Might want to check that one.
i couldn't care less about that, you stupid nazi.
i'd shop wherever is convenient and has a good deal.
judaism, christianity, both equally pointless.
2.4% growth is still growth... what's the problem?
Problem is expectations of capitalists. It makes them worry about future profits. They are greedy and insecure.
Now would be the time to buy precious metals, the dollar is going to collapse this year.
Buy Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium
https://www.eurgold.eu
And now Japan in -0.4 GDP quarterly contraction! (MOAR QE!!! And Where's MOAR Debt Krugman!!??)
What an Epic FAILLLLLLLLLL !!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33923023
just drove through Lamar ave. Memphis.... strip malls all closed for miles
Just cruised the strip on google maps...what a depressing sight.
Following your lead I did the same. Welcome to the New America...
I bet some brokers have some great investment opportunities on some real estate LPs.
Zionism is a fifth-column colonial like system of organized plunder and murder that operates on a national and international level via fraudulent-reserve banks, dependent governments, and connected and derivative firms.
A victimized country, society, and people will exhibit either much division, plunder, and murder followed by tyranny, or tyranny followed by much division, plunder and murder.
Lamar Ave, Memphis, TN, is but one case of what Zion's plunder looks like within the American country.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Environmentally friendly malls.
Welcome to your future.
No human viruses.
Clean air and water for the elite.
You will get angrier, I promise.
LOLOLOL.
Well it's only proper, they own all the land after all.
Haven't been in a mall in a long time, and don't plan on going anytime soon. This summer local mall Sears rented out thier parking lot for a carnival, shoppers were not inpacted as they set aside 10 spaces for consumer parking.
Amazon for me
I just read this article about Amazon and the Amazonians and the the Amazon culture. I'm gonna have to give up Amazon. They are a bigger retailer than Walmart. Thing is..their workers LIKE to be abused..it's addictive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big...
I read that too; Everyone should. However, I found it interesting that Zion's DC US mouthpiece seemed to be attacking one of Zion's biggest heads of their price-inflation dissipating imported goods outlets.
But then I reread it and caught that the piece seems to be spinning "be an automaton for your employer, or be replaced." It's a justification spin piece to assuage the frustrations of those Americans out there being forced to work 80 plus thankless hours a week in a virtual "spoon and satchel" coal mine. "Endure, or be replaced."
The biggest tip off was the sly way they worked in that complaints go no where at the local law firms. Of course they never mention that many of those firms are run by Zionists themselves; Zionist firms that do not desire to lose Amazon's local legal business. Also never mind that the courts are probably staffed with Zionists in all the key positions.
This was further emphasized by the open casualness with which the article's author highlights the several law breaking behaviors* of Amazon against employee parents, and women. Normally, for the sake of propaganda and division, the ZYT would be screaming foul from the rafters on such behavior, yet here it is treated as "what do you expect?"
*Not that I think the government should be permitted to interfere in the employer, employee, relationship. Just highlighting the hypocrisy and duplicity.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Now quit reading this and get back to work before you are replaced by one of those potentially more dedicated and loyal waiting to apply downstairs.
Amazon doesnt sound very different from a bulge bracket investment bank. I do like the part about sacrificing one 'teammate' in order to protect another. Might as well call the sacifice a 'sandwich'. I'll continue to buy from Amazon if their price on an item I want is the lowest. No tax, free shipping is also nice. And the item reviews are very helpful. Compare that to the chimp mouth-breather down at the big box retail store, and I dont know why/how anyone wastes their time and money in bricks and mortar. . .
...and the sad part is, is that many on Zero Hedge want to go back to the free market capitalism days of the late 1800s Rockefeller-owned America. Well, this is what it's like to work for a private corporation! It makes "the state" that the Austrian School blohards whine about so much look like child's play.
"Your foreman or supervisor gives you more or-else orders in a week than the police do in a decade." -Bob Black
As I have been saying ad nauseum in many of my posts, do not become an employee. Be an entrepreneur or an independent contractor, and never ever hire employees; only hire other independent contractors and/or entrepreneurs.
100% unemployment is my goal, whereas the Marxist-Leninists wanted 0% unemployment.
agree about becoming an enterprenuer.
but this part is total crap:
"Your foreman or supervisor gives you more or-else orders in a week than the police do in a decade." -Bob Black
you dishonestly equate the two, but the foreman does not have a gun to shoot you with if you decide you don't want anything to do with him. in other words the relationship is VOLUNTARY. you understand this word, voluntary? this is the key.
"those Americans out there being forced to work 80 plus thankless hours a week in a virtual "spoon and satchel" coal mine."
Nobody is forcing me to work. I got my EBT card. Thank you Mr. and Ms taxpayer.
So they're repeating Enron's ideas?
I read that too. Very sad.
Let me know when they turn a profit. What's their PE?
They don't have one.
PE does not matter. Firms like Amazon are central to the New World Order where control is concentrated in a few hands.
Amazon will have all the money it needs.
There 's your Brownshirts right there, Honey.
The last time I was in a mall I got my picture taken on Santa's lap. The closest one nearby is closed.
Are you ok? Do you need to talk?
Jeebus, I can't breathe.....laughing too hard. LOL !! +12 Days of Xmas !!
I worked my way thru college as a part time Santa at the mall and i remeber one smelly guy ....
[just treasing .....]
Last time I went to the mall, it was for a watch pin. The cocksuckers at the place that had one wanted $15 to replace a single <$0.50 watch pin. I finally found a jeweler not at the mall who just gave me one.
I don't understand how you have 2 down arrows for this....
Prolly the NSA readers, who knee-jerk downvote this poster.
Wait , lemme check the list.
http://www.zerohedge.com/users/newsoutlet
Nope, some other alphabet agency..
True the economy is in meltdown, but showing it thru the declining malls is plain and simply stupid. Very stupid. Times change and the internet era comes along. Ordering online is why the malls are closing. Which brings jobs for computer learned people, sales reps, delivery services etc. Closing malls is simply a change, not a sign of economic collapse. We are collapsing because of the federal reserve bank and the globalists who run it.
Off topic...Kchris comments are my feelings also...I feel sympathy for anyone who thinks a president will change things. And I feel sympathy for so many here who still have hope of change. THINGS ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE!!!!. The only change will come from a spirituality awakening but so few here even know what that means.
When we have a presidential candidate such as Ron Paul... wake me up. He is telling people to prepare, he is not offering hope and change. Because there is no hope and change, and too few on this comment board seem to recognize it. I am sorry, I didnt start all of this, I tried to warn people decades ago. You best prepare yourself. And dont depend on gold or silver, they can and will simply outlaw it. Depend on having a secure abode, hopefully out of the city, food and water storage, and items to protect you and your family. Get your health straight, get your minds set on a new paradime, and get your spirituality in order. The zion controlled world is not going to stop and a nuclear war is bound to happen, or something similar. IMO, there will be no vote in 2016. ALl of this is a distraction...wake up for you and your own families well being, and wake up today!
things ARE going to change. change is the only constant. that and maybe gravity.
Wake up? You'll have to go someplace else to wake people up. We've been awake so long that some of us are getting heavy eyelids.
you mean gold ans silver will be outlawed just like all the illegal drugs are. and illegal aliens working for cash.
Hmm does not seem to stop the flow of or quantity of illegal drugs on the street!
Hmm does not stop all the illegals working for cash as well.
What world full of unicorns have you been living in?
Retail existing on black ops drug money.
They've all become dirty laundry stores.
Pensioners (last generation of them) roaming around in circles because the AC is on. Not buying, except maybe an Orange Julius here and there. Immigrant families of eight with little grabbers in tow, and this in places like Peoria, Illinois, Betterdorf, IA ... wherever they are to be injected to diversify a too-white population. Mexico City is the future L.A. and God knows what awaits flyover country.
war awaits the flyovers - this crap does not compute there...
That sums up why malls died 15 years ago. Not buying. Period.
Back when I did shitty retail work in the late 80s / early 90s, I would constantly deal with "customers" who either didn't buy anything, or spent only like $5 or $10. Then they would whine to the manager about not being pampered and treated like royalty for simpily walking in the front door off of the street, nevermind the fact that there are dozens of others doing the same thing. Then as usual, the manager who was a dorky old man with half glasses would pull me into the office and tell me the importance of "customer service". I would "serve" the "customer" if they actually were a customer I would tell this dumbass manager. The lady I rang up for a $500 purchase was really friendly, and then I get old farts angry over a $7 order, and haggling over sales and coupons, and the price. The dumbass manager focused all of his attention on the upset folks spending a measly $7 as opposed to thanking the lady who just spent $500 minutes earlier.
Focusing on losers like those old folks that don't spend any money is why that store declared Chapter 11, and that building was demolished and re-zoned as a multifamily apartment complex!!! That loser manager I had didn't live long enough to retire and died from an ulcer weeks before the obsolete company died. Oh the irony!
lol...Yeah MBS is right up there with the corporate bond short(inverse ETF) in my bond short trade.
We'll see just how liquid the markets are when the door snaps shut. ;-)
Went to Macy's yesterday to buy my son some back to school clothes:
5 brand name designers shirts $2.34 each.
2 pairs of brand name shorts $9.70 each
4 pairs of jeans varied from $7.99-$14.99
20 prs of jockey underwear and 20 pairs of socks <$30
Total bill after applying $20 off coupon....$96.79.
Few years ago it would have cost me triple that amount. Kohl's is constantly sending my wife $10 off coupons o purchases of $10 or more, so she goes in, buys $10-11 worth off stuff and usually walks out paying nothing but a few cents in sales tax.
Thanks to the "economic recovery" our finances are recovering quite well thank you, at least until all these stores close down.
Went to a mall last weekend that was the big new mall 10 years ago. Had been there 4 years ago and it was somewhat busy, with only 1 or 2 vacancies.
Last week it was half-empty with "For Lease!" signs plastered on dirty windows and the holes and discolored stucco of the now gone retailer's name.
Build-a-Bear, Gamestop, Buckle, the Thai Restaurant - all gone. The only major hold-outs were Starbucks and Dick's Sporting Goods with a few people wandering in and out.
Felt like a ghost town.
I think I have a solution to this. The problem is garages. Everywhere I go, I see no one parking in their garage because it is filled to the top with Chinese crap. The government needs to launch a one time Cash for Crap program to empty these garages. Then the Malls will be packed with people to fill the space again. Nature abhors a vacuum!
Ok, yes I know, the garages will be filled revisiting the problem once again but I have a solution to that too! A Government mandate that requires garages must be as big as the house. All homes must be retrofitted and future homes built with the proper dimensions. Some will resist this but if fined a certain rate per foot of garage space until compliant, they will come around and providing another government income stream. Gosh, this would really work well if we had only digital currency. We could extract the money directly to be more convenient for people. Soon we would have the model in a steady state implementing the Cash for Crap every ten years or so. Central planning is so fun!
Miffed
Are you saying we have reached peak junk?
Nah... why do you think all those storage places are being built? People paying for space to store the stuff they don't have space for at hiome - and apparently don't use enough to keep at home....
I laughed Miffed. Reminds me of George Carlin's "Stuff" skit https://youtu.be/MvgN5gCuLac
McGarages to go with the McMansions.Brilliant.
the great 2016 garage recovery. Obamastorage, passed in the middle of the night mandated that everyone add on a new garage this year. you will have until 2018 to fill it with plastic garbage from china. throw in an extra dead pig from china and get a tax rebate.
lol. When you've mastered cynicism/
An inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; skepticism.
You're Zero Hedge Royalty.
Don't Touch my Junk OK
kick me in the junk
Most people don't park in their garages in my neighborhood because they're too small... everyone drives large trucks and they're simply too big for the smaller sized garages. It's really startling how much a big garage does for the livability of a home...
What seems to be the thing to do now is to put a couch in the garage and hang out there all day... in 100 degree weather... while paying to cool their homes... you can't fix stupid.
Been looking up my driveway eh?
That was great.
They can't park in the garage because all their 3 adult children and their kids live at home. You should see some of these working class subdivisions; 6 cars trying to park in front of a house every day.
buy I'm renting my garage out, to a family of illegals, so I can afford the mortgage.
As a car guy with a few too many toys, I like bigger garages!
You need to fix this:
Some will resist this but if fined a certain rate per foot of garage space until compliant...
It's not a fine....it's a tax. Ask Justice Roberts if you don't believe me.
The only malls I go to anymore are Outlet malls, about 2X a year when my wife drags me there looking for bargains on suits or for my birthday gift.
Otherwise, I never go to one. They have mostly outlived their usefulness. You can just about anything order online more cheaply and easily. You can also throughly research items online. Buying clothes were kind of the last firewall, but I mostly order then online too (except for suits & shoes). I remember the bad old days where I would would to 5-6 stores looking for an item that I'd end up overpaying for. No more. You'd have to be a sucker to go to a mall.
The other side of the coin is that products are made much better now. Back in the 1970s, so many products were just crap. When I was a kid, we'd have to buy a new TV every 1-2 years 'cause they would break so often. Now, I buy a TV that will last for 10 years; notebook computers typically 3-4 years.
I DO feel bad for salespeople who educate customers, who then go online to order the product anyway. That is in poor taste and something I absolutely refuse to do.
Everyone using online shopping is the globalists dream ... a couple of giant warehouses on the west coat....orders come in .... giant ship sent from china to fille warehouse. ... rinse repeat
Don't feel bad. These workers are hourly.
Malls= temporatry vacation land for the ill-prepared provided by your friends @FEMA...
I go to retail stores to physically touch and feel an item. Then I go home and research it online and find the lowest prices .
Then order it,
Sales people hate that when you go to the store and act interetested in something , then tell them , thanks for the info. Bye Bye
Best Buy (Best Cry) is very good for that.
Whore their displays all the time, then buy it on Newegg - no taxes, free delivery.
Best Buy deserves what they get. Changing $40 for a $4 HDMI cable. Same goes for Radio Shack.
Get all my cables for 99c - at focalprice.c
Sales people don't care. They are hourly.
Lots of people are doing this, and understandably, retailers hate it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrooming
your only as young as who you feel