Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail.

[Maximus]

There's no such thing as a community anymore.

There are. They're just not geographically based. They're called social network clusters these days.

[mongers]

There's no such thing as a community anymore.

There absolutely is, and there are a few kinds; the communities of people who can afford to pay extra to live in a place that is a community; the communities of those on the economic margins, too poor to access the services that render communities less necessary; and communities of people who are far from the reaches of the technologies that render communities less necessary.

If Amazon is successful, communities will be destroyed - especially in places where community exists because it's the only real choice. But community will still exist for those too poor to access Amazons and amongst those who are willing and able to pay the premium to live in one.

Interesting.

As it happened I went to somewhere a couple of weeks ago, a small rural village, and they definitely did community in a big or at least to an atypical degree, but I got the distinct impression you had be be from a rather high social class in order to participate. 

You'd certainly need to be a millionaire to be able to move into the village now.

[MadImmortalMan]

If local retail isn't dead already, it never will be.


There's enough firepower between Wal-Mart and Tesco, Amazon and Zappos and all the rest to have "killed" it a few times over by now.

[dps]

I buy commodities, like pre-packaged milk or detergent online.  But if I want to buy a camera or TV I still want to try it out before I pay.  Online shopping can't replace restaurants and Starbucks.  I still want to buy a lot of niche products that can't be found in online shops.  I still buy Japanese peaches from a physical location.  My wife still wants to examine each pack of vegetables she buys.  There is no way this change destroys local retail.  Change the landscape a bit, perhaps. 

Yeah, there are some things I can't see myself ever buying online.

[Josquius]

If local retail isn't dead already, it never will be.


There's enough firepower between Wal-Mart and Tesco, Amazon and Zappos and all the rest to have "killed" it a few times over by now.

Supermarkets and shopping malls didn't kill it but its certainly on the ropes thanks to them. Online shopping could be the killing blow.

Even if things don't change and online shopping doesn't get better and more efficient, as things stand the simple aging of the population and ever increasing percentage of the population who is tech savvy should be enough to wreck serious damage.
Already this is  working - HMV in the UK is in huge trouble due to online retail. And since HMVs are normally huge anchor stores, it going under could have dodgy effects.

[Richard Hakluyt]

There is no reason to sell commodity type goods in expensive locations and labour-intensive stores. Which is why there is no use kicking against the pricks and trying to slow down the process with pointless legislation or costly subsidies. Plus, as others have pointed out, it is a beneficial process that will destroy millions of pointless jobs.

The High Street is already a dispiriting and tedious experience, all those pointless chain stores selling goods at higher prices than they can be bought online. If the town centre/high street is to have any future, IMO, it needs to evolve. I imagine a mix of cafes, restaurants and shops with a personal touch and staff that actually have useful information to convey. The days of retailers charging massive mark-ups for indifferent and uninformed service are over, three cheers for that 

[Ed Anger]

If local retail isn't dead already, it never will be.


There's enough firepower between Wal-Mart and Tesco, Amazon and Zappos and all the rest to have "killed" it a few times over by now.

For every town that had its downtown decimated by Wally World, there is another who had kept it going.

For examples, see Centerville and Waynesville Ohio. Centerville is splotched right in the middle of suburban sprawl and kept its downtown going. Waynesville found its niche selling itself as a small town shopping place. In contrast, my old hometown of Fairborn let its downtown atophy into shit you don't want to shop at.

Shitty city councils are a problem. Having spoke in front of a few, most of those tards shouldn't have elected turd wrangler, let alone in a position of power.