Bezos and Bentonville: Barbarians at the Mall

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Better not plan your traditional trip to the mall for 2020 Christmas shopping, just yet.

The Mall may not be there.

Global war has broken out in retailing as Amazon and Wal-Mart are taking their “cash registers to the people” and while there may be some economies of scale, the word anti-trust and “mom & pop” keep ringing in my head.

This weekend, a look at the board and how the war is on for your clicks.  Because clicks are a lot cheaper than square footage and parking lots to put in…  This war will not be over next week – these things take time to ripple, but the wave is coming so it’s time to size it up.  If you have a strip mall portfolio, there’s reason to grab the Tums.

First, a few headlines and our charts, which are on the verge of delivering another payday…

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15 thoughts on “Bezos and Bentonville: Barbarians at the Mall”

  2. http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/09/heres-what-viv-looks-like-the-next-generation-ai-assistant-built-by-siri-creator/

    Don’t know if you saw this but fits right in to today’s Peoplenomics theme. I think he calls it “conversational commerce”. It’s a post-apps for phones world driven by an AI computer program that dynamically generates code based on the contents of search queries. Beingbuilt by the folks that broought us Apple’s Siri. Google (and Amazon) can’t be far behind.

    Hope you are feeling beeter soon! You’re a real trooper to carry on through your surgeries.

  3. I like this guy.. here is one thing.. he brought up Donald trumps comment on restructuring our debt.. that it would damage the dollars value.. or by admitting we are broke rather than raise interest rates the dollar would collapse..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bIcyEk5tE

    here is my random thught.. why restructure.. why raise interest rates.. or why would it damage the economy if we did raise interest rates..
    What backs the dollar.. its only value is that they say its value and everyone buys into the value of a piece of paper.. no gold no grain no goods.. a piece of paper.. so raise rates print more like the potato chip guy.. go ahead and eat them we’ll make more.. philosophy as long as we already know the dollar or the ruble etc pound euro.. none of it is backed by anything other than the paper its written on so raise rates print more and listen to the guy with the bell bottom plaid pants and half size to small polyester shirt saying god your getting a good one here…. similar to my argument on insurance policies.. I have said for years they should all be written on five inch by five inch soft paper in rolls since most of them have a clause someplace in them saying they don’t have to pay.. as an example take the hurricane Katrina and how they paid off on devastation it was what a penny or two per dollar…. but hey who am I..

  4. but the mall has the food court and the food court has the guy that makes the awesome teriyaki chicken and fried rice. for the love of all that is good, I hope you’re wrong.

  5. Kit homes already exist. Back in the 90’s I worked for a nonprofit that built “affordable housing” using volunteer workers.

    Manufactured wall sections came off a flatbed truck in the order needed, and a few men (or church youth group) could stand them up and connect them with just a hammer and nails. Complete framing job in just a few days if you can follow simple instructions.

    Not just square boxes, either. Pretty nifty floor plans.

    But my money is on robotic house construction – as robots are taking over ALL manual labor already.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYqBxEAtXZA

  6. As a survivor of Andrew the above writer is not too far off the mark . Insurance companies are not …. In the business of paying reliable claims ever. We were lucky to get .05 on damage and that was with threats and Nasty lawyer letters .

  7. Advice to seniors: Dog vs. Cat.

    Dogs want your attention 24/7 and 100 % of your time; Cats not so much! (I’m sure Zeuss will approve of this statement?) Food and water twice a day, and cleaning the box twice a day seems to be enough for a cat’s well being. Cats sleep about 80% of their time, and 20% of their time is spend just looking at you. During that time, if you give them affection they appreciate it tremendously, if you’re not in the mood cats seem not to care, and they will not bother you for attention. I share time in NYC with a beautiful ‘Siberian female’ but it is difficult to find a ‘Siberian male’ to make her life complete. Sooo sorry!

    • That has not been my experience with cats. Cats love attention and ask for it. Meowing is not just for food. They prefer to be on your lap, or on your computer laptop. Anywhere we are, they are. On your pillow, at your feet, in your arms.

  8. Boy, do I feel like a pork chop at a Jewish wedding.
    I never ever posted, and when I finally did.Poof.Gone.
    Oh well.,Thank you for keeping me level headed and balanced. Antidote to fear porn. I’m chicken little, always thinking the sky is going to fall.One of the things that opened my eyes were articles from a former trader known on the web as, kid dynamite, when he wrote about confirmation bias with regards to investing in precious metals.I do so enjoy reading you’re writings.

    • Ahhhh, now, don’t take it personally, hundreds of us have lost our postings, it is called ‘computer glitch’ surely you have heard of it?

  9. Five of the six Walton sibs are Liberals, as is Bezos, and they’re all in the tank for Ms. Clinton. I think the election contribution angle will be a wash.

    Mauls (sic) hold no appeal for me, either as a patron or a vendor. IMO renting space at $50/sq.ft./month is insanity. I couldn’t care less whether the progeny of Jacklyn Bezos, Sam Walton, or Mel Simon are the eventual Kings of Retail. That said, I suspect JeffB will be the eventual big winner, acquiring the World of Wallys when they’re down to about 100 retail locations, and Simon Properties will be the big loser, once no-one can afford mall-space. I also anticipate Bezos moving to eventually buy either Lowes or Home Depot, because building materials are amongst the few things an Amazon drone won’t be able to deliver (but a driverless delivery vehicle with an unloading robot will…)

    • I remember reading that story in 1990 about the advancements in waste in the world waste magazine.. kept it snipped out.. which brings up the part of a grand child a few weeks ago.. I was making a meal when the child reading a can asked me.. do you change the water.. no why.. well this was canned in an area that has the worst water pollution in the world.. ok.. that area imports water from the USA to be consumed by the residents because their water is so badly contaminated by industry without regulation.. so did they use the imported water for the canning process or did they turn on the tap.. our industrial complex moved there to increase profits by getting products at cheaper prices..since less than five percent of containers and the products in them are checked.. who is to say they snuck some in.. the other thing is our pharmaceuticals are for the most part produced in those very area’s why then can’t we negotiate price.. Just saying.. there is a reason we have those regulations on industry..

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