Strategic changes at Amazon point to retail challenges – The Wall Street Journal

DUBLIN – The Edcon saga highlighted some of the challenges facing retailers. Earlier this year, the threatened bankruptcy of Edcon, owner of Edgars, Jet, and CNA, sent a jolt through South Africa. Edcon was saved – for now at least – by a consortium of rescuers including landlords, banks, and the PIC. Edcon's problems are complex. The company is carrying a lot of debt and the struggling South African economy has meant lower retail sales across the board. But the stores have also been hurt by a more general trend, the decline of the department store. Around the world, big department stores like Edgars have struggled, squeezed between low-cost, fast-fashion retailers like Mr Price and discount cosmetics shops like Dis-Chem on the one hand, and high-end, luxury stores on the other. The switch to online has also robbed stores of foot traffic. Therefore, you can draw a link between Edcon's struggles and Amazon's decision to close its US pop-up stores as it rethinks its bricks-and-mortar strategy. Both Edcon and Amazon are trying to find their way in an increasingly complex and confusing retail environment. As customers' tastes change, technology upends traditional retail models, and new store formats lure shoppers, both an old-school retailer like Edcon and a cutting-edge digital powerhouse like Amazon must figure how best to manage logistics, keep costs down, provide what customers want, and entice customers to spend time browsing and buying. It's a brave new world and no one, not even Amazon, has figured it out yet. – Felicity Duncan

Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy

By Esther Fung

(The Wall Street Journal) Amazon.com is shutting down all 87 of its U.S. pop-up stores, ending the retailer's yearslong experiment with these small shops as the company tinkers with an evolving bricks-and-mortar strategy.

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