Our Culture will Collapse by 2030.(39)
Oh boy! I fear the “fit is about to hit the shan”. CVS announced yesterday they will close 300 stores this year and 300 more for each of the next two years. Rite Aid is also closing stores. The WSJ says nearly 3,200 stores are closing across the US in 2023. At least 20 more major retailers have said they will close US stores in 2023, for a combined total of 3,193 locations. The list of closings includes Amazon centers and Walmart stores.
Most retail workers are paid really crappy rates, so no big loss there. The closed stores will help other retailers in shopping centers rebuild sales volumes with goods that were hijacked by the closing units. Sales clerks have been “seeing the hand writing on the wall” for several years now. Job content has reduced their work to dusting stock on the shelves and scanning price labels with laser wands, operating cash registers and credit card machines. Eight hours of boredom a day for a pay check is like the old saying “Halitosis is better than no breath at all”, but there are jobs out there if they look.
Fuel prices are the darkest clouds in the economic skies. California gasoline prices have increased $ .60 since May. Pump prices above $5.53 are common in many locations in the “Golden State”. Deisel fuel costs are still a big worry for the trucking business. While they declined a bit from their stratospheric heighs of last Summer. They still hover in the high $4 to mid $5 range. The high prices for fuel in Agricultural applications will continue putting pressure on commodity prices. The “one trick pony” Fed, may see that as a sign they should administer “Presto Bismal” to the economy with more rate hikes. Be frugal to get through this Fall and Winter.
Have a nice day.
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