The 2010's may not have been the death of Brick and Mortar retail, but the decade had definitely changed consumers shopping habits. Online shopping has become a normal part of consumption, with the global online shipping market size being predicted to hit four trillion in 2020. According to statistics from Optinmonster the U.S. is expected to have 300 million online shoppers in 2023. The changing in market habits has not only strengthen those who have made a strong e-commerce presence globally, but has also left many behind that failed to adapt.
Below is a list of five major brick and mortar stocks that failed from 2010-2019:
Blockbuster: One of the infamous deaths of the past decade was that of Blockbuster. The movie rental store's death seemed to be directly influence from the rise of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). According to the Wall Street Journal, "In 2009, sales and rental of physical DVDs accounted for 44% of all studio feature-film revenue." Consumers were already preferring to watch entertainment content within their own house at the beginning of the decade. Companies like Netflix were just waiting for the digital distribution of movies and other media to take hold over consumers. But Blockbuster was already on the decline before Netflix became a household name in streaming services. Blockbuster's business model was disrupted by a number of tech developments over the decade. The company first started out as a rental hub for VHS cassettes, which were largely rented rather than purchased by consumers. When DVDs became the new video distribution norm, consumers begun to directly purchase them rather than rent. Netflix flourished in the new market, first bringing DVD rentals straight to consumers doors. In 2010, Blockbuster filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) acquiring the company in 2011 and closing all operations in January 2014. As of December 2019, only one location remains in operation in Oregon.
Fred's: The midwest discount store Fred's was mostly known as a pharmacy. The death of the company seemed to be inevitable once consumer giants like Target (NYSE: TGT) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) began offering pharmacies within their stores, thus eliminating the need to make multiple stops. Fred's was also out of its league when it came to other pharmaceutical companies like Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA), CVS (NYSE: CVS), and Rite-Aid (NYSE: RAD). The decade has also brought rise to more successful chains like Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) and Dollar General (NYSE: DG) have taken over the discount market, leaving Fred's in the dust. Fred's began shrinking their 568 locations across the U.S to just 80 on 2019. The company delisted from the Nasdaq in September after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
RadioShack: Before major stocks like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), RadioShack was the consumer electronics leader. At its height, the company had a whopping 4,500-plus stores across the country. This past decade, Amazon began to undercut many of the RadioShack's prices for low-end tech gear. The discounts began to make consumers more comfortable with cutting out the need to visit a physical store. The company had filed for bankruptcy twice, the final time being 2017, citing a challenging retail environment and an unsatisfying partnership with Sprint (NYSE: S). RadioShack had overextended itself to keep its doors open, but it was the struggle to keep up with competitors that was ultimately the company's demise.
Sears: Starting in 1893 as a mail order catalog, Sears was once the largest retailer in the U.S., offering consumers a wide range of products from clothing to appliances. The company started to meet its end with its 2005 merger with Kmart. The company had already began its decline in 1990, when Walmart and Kmart surpassed it in sales. Sear's demise in the 2010s was the fault of mismanagement. Former CEO Eddie Lampert had badly under-invested in stores following the company's merger with Kmart, while similar stores like Target and Walmart did the complete opposite, enhancing their brick and mortar stores to attract consumers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018.
The Borders Group: The Borders Group, was an international book and music retailer that was founded in 1992. As consumers moved more toward online purchases, the company began running into money issues. The final year the company had made a profit was in 2006. From there, Borders was on a downward trend of yearly income dropping by $1 billion over the next four years. The company's fatal decision came from the marking alliance with Amazon in 2007, rather than creating their own competitor to the online book store. Border's then created an e-book store in 2010, but it was already too late, for consumers had identified more with Amazon as the online destination for books. Borders declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011.