Tag: Bricks to clicks

May 22,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, as far back as October 2011 in an article ,”Understanding the Shift to Online Shopping” Marcia Kaplan wrote, “Defying the general economic gloom, ecommerce sales have registered seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue gains since Q4 2009, with some in double digits. The last three quarters (Q4 2010 through Q2 2011) showed gains of 11, 12, and 14 percent respectively, the best performances since Q2 of 2008, according to research firm comScore.

Figures calculated by the U.S. Department of Commerce are more generous, showing an increase of 17.2 percent for Q2 2011 over Q2 2010. In contrast, total retail sales — stores and online — for Q2 2011 increased only 8.4 percent over the same quarter in 2010. Ecommerce accounted for 4.2 percent of total retail sales in Q2 of 2011, according to the Department of Commerce.” https://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3087-Understanding-the-Shift-to-Online-Shopping

The WSJ in August  2015 said , “U.S. retailers are facing a steep and persistent drop in store traffic, which is weighing on sales and prompting chains to slow store openings as shoppers make more of their purchases online.”

Now it seems the day of reckoning is upon us , despite calls for more parking to save retails in the CBD in Ridgewood ,the nationwide trend of shoppers moving online has continued to accelerate.

May 2016 headlines read like a retail obituary :

Scoop Succumbs to Market Forces; All Stores Closing

Sports Authority to Sell Off Assets, May Be Closing All 450 Stores

Hugo Boss Considers Closing Some Stores as Earnings Plummet

The Gap Is Closing a Bunch of Old Navy Stores

Aeropostale Store Closings 2016: Retailer Files For Chapter 11

The reality is its going to take far more than parking to fully revitalize the CBD in Ridgewood .