Retail reality is scary enough, do we really need to go digging?

I watched the movie Bombshell last night. Kate McKinnon’s character says this about how to go about creating news stories: “You have to adopt the mentality of an Irish street cop … Ask yourself what would scare my grandmother and what would piss off my grandfather?” 

It’s a narrative lens that builds fear and anxiety. And boosts ratings.

As I scan headlines, regardless of the news source, I see a similar mentality at work postulating on the death of retail.

We’re being bombarded with tales that would scare anyone, grandmother or not. 

Now, I’m not saying we should only report positive news, and we should definitely report what is happening in the world even if it is far from rosy, but, currently, it feels like a modern-day Hunger Games where people are placing bets on what retail businesses will fall.

It’s like some sick reality show betting on which elderly celebrities won’t make it through, and seemingly people are enjoying watching it all play out.

“Betty White or Hugh Downs?”

“I’ve got $20 that Betty won’t make it, and here’s why.”

(For those of you panicking, Betty White is completely fine and virus-free.)

In the past week, we’ve seen a number of articles postulating on the death of retail in this same way.

Here’s just a few headlines from the past week:

• Nobody’s Buying Clothes Right Now. So Stores Are Filing For Bankruptcy. 
• Has COVID-19 Turned Fashion Into An Endangered Retail Species? 
• Nordstrom Can Withstand 12 Months Of Store Closures, But Other Department Stores Have Much Less Time, Analysts Say 
• Desperate retailers are running unprecedented sales in a sign of trouble to come for clothing brands 

I have to ask myself what purpose these stories serve. I don’t think stockholders find much of this information news. I also doubt it is news to the actual brands struggling to survive. 

But I'll tell you who it does affect: those who work for the brands and the customers that support them.

Worry doesn’t take away tomorrow’s problems and realities, it takes away today’s strength and hope.

Presumably, these stories are somehow good for the nation.

But under the surface, they seem to simply be looking to fulfill the overworked narrative of the retail apocalypse that has been present for several years now as digital natives push the narrative and willing media snap up monthly increases in percentages of online sales.

A headline about retail being dead might get clicks, but that doesn’t validate it. This narrative hasn’t been true for the past decade, and it’s not true now.

James Whelan, the head of the Real Estate Board of New York, stated that, “the obituary of New York City has been written more than once. And it’s always been proven incorrect.”

I would say the same about the current news about retail. 

Yes, retailers, like many businesses, are considering bankruptcy to get out of debt. That doesn’t necessarily mean they “will not survive” or "no one will buy clothes again" or that retailers are part of an “endangered retail species” as headlines would suggest.

I read a LinkedIn thread last Friday where many were saying Macy’s should liquidate because they are in such bad shape. You could feel the contempt.

Macy’s isn’t going away.

The brand has its own parade through the greatest city in the US. It is the centerpiece of Miracle on 34th Street, the movie that comes out each year at the exact moment people are shopping for the holidays. They will downsize, certainly, but not disappear.

Yes, it will be painful, yes it will affect entire shopping districts, but it will allow them to live another day and do a better job. 

Let’s also not forget that, according to the National Retail Federation, “retail supports one in four American jobs and drives a large percentage of job creation.”

We better all hope retail survives and, in fact, thrives. 

I get that times are tough, really tough, but where is the balance? 

I don’t want this to feel like a personal attack on those reporting retail news, I truly don't.

But I also don’t want these ghoulish stories to continue to grow unchallenged. Why?

Retail and the economy run on hope. 

That’s it.

Just like a couple deciding to have a child want to believe their offspring could grow up to be President, they also fear that child could become a drug dealer or homeless. Yet they choose hope.

It’s a choice.

This isn't a red state or blue state perspective. We're the same...

Hope doesn’t come from someone else, it has to start with each of us. Otherwise, what the hell is the point of getting up in the morning? 

Without hope, all is lost.

The average consumer hears the what-ifs around store closures and bankruptcy and becomes unsure about going shopping again, and that is not what we want. It’s unnecessarily scaring not just the grandmothers - but all of us - just for the sake of it.

As much as I’ve read luxury is dead, shopping is dead, and that retail is dead, lost in the narrative is that luxury retailer Hermes re-opened their boutique last Saturday in China and took in a record 2.7 million. 

The pundits talking about how shopping is changed irreversibly and that brick and mortar stores are dead seem to ignore the fact that shoppers are still in Walmart and Target loading up just like usual. 

Pundits seem to also negate True Value hardware dealers, arguably not digital natives, had sales that were up more than 15% year-over-year chain-wide in March of this year.

This modern-day Hunger Games for retail may be entertaining to act out, but it has real consequences. Let me be clear...

The economy runs on hope, not fear. 

Let’s get headlines and stories to reflect that.

I’ve got $20 on Betty to win.

What say you?

#hopeforretail

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Bob Phibbs is the Retail Doctor. Helping brick-and-mortar retailers beat online competitors by creating experiences to move merchandise. LinkedIn TopVoice Retail. Find out more at RetailDoc.com