The retail apocalypse is creating a 'rolling crisis' that is rippling through the US economy
Retailers are closing thousands of stores and going bankrupt at a rate not seen since the recession, and tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs as a result.
The effects of these job losses will hit local economies hard, according to Mark Cohen, the director of retail studies at Columbia Business School.
"This is creating a slow-rolling crisis," Cohen told Business Insider. "The people that work in retail stores will lose their jobs, then spend less money in retail stores because they are no longer employed. That creates a a cascade of economic challenges."
Since October, 89,000 workers in general merchandise stores have lost their jobs, which is more than the number of people employed in the entire US coal industry, reports The New York Times.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-retail-apocalypse-is-creating-a-rolling-crisis-that-is-rippling-through-the-us-economy/ar-BBzWIWZ?li=BBnb7Kz
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in the unemployment line. 
Of course Dump's party might institute a full employment law that will force those lazy shiftless former retail workers to pick tomatoes 12 hrs a day under the hot sun after they run off all the "rapist" Mexicans huh?
No health insurance for three months and no 401k for a year. I mean COME on, America. "Beggars can't be choosers", and all that, but that shit's ARCHAIC.
This is just one more reason why we need to take all of this stuff OUT of the hands of private employers and publicly MANDATE it . . . like every other civilized nation does. Of course, as long as America, public AND private, are run by private employers who think America would be better if it were run as a corporation, it's merely a pipe dream.
They had people working there for whom it was a career. The guy who sold you the refrigerator at Sears really knew about refrigerators. When was the last time a store employee measured your foot and retrieved the proper size shoe for you? Or pulled a suit off the rack at a clothing store that was exactly your size, and pulled out a piece of chalk and marked the cuffs to be altered to the proper length?
If there's no one at the store to give you knowledgeable help then why not just buy it online?
I live in a small town where there are still some small privately owned businesses that have this kind of customer service, but they are having difficulty competing with the Amazons of the world. We have a large locally owned home improvement store with skilled and knowledgeable employees who are mostly retired contractors. The will recommend the right product, tell you what tools you need and how to do the job. I go to the Home Depot in a nearby city and find mostly people who don't know much about their products, are most likely not well paid, and will probably move on to some other job in a short time - if they can find one.
It's a damn shame. I feel helpless but all I can do is support the local stuff as long as I can afford it. I'm sure I'm a rarity because I can honestly say I have never bought anything from Amazon.
Old man grumpy rant/off.
