The U.S retail sector of late has been much maligned. While dramatic headlines suggest online retailers will be the death of traditional brick and mortar stores, the evidence suggests otherwise. A look at U.S. Economic Census numbers for retail during the last seven years (excluding food service and automobiles) shows growth averaging about 2%, well below GDP growth, which averaged 2.9%. In looking at the data for the sector one thing is clear, we are in the midst of a massive transformation. This is driven by the rise of the millennial and the transformation towards e-commerce. The change has been a gradual one. While there have been and will continue to be casualties along the way such as Sports Authority, in the end the consumer will win, and those that survive will be stronger for it.
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