The End of The Shopping Mall?

Coronavirus closings: Macy’s, Apple, Sephora say they’ll reopen soon. But will they?

While it is impossible to forecast the recovery once the coronavirus crises has passed, you can easily see the result will be an impact on many store chains from restaurants to clothing retailers. The question is will shopping habits be permanently impacted?

Sears, JCPenney, Neiman Marcus and J. Crew were some of the most distressed companies prior to the outbreak, according to analysts. Forever XXI was in the process of being bought by Simon Shopping Centers.

7th Ave in Times Square April 7 2020 — **7th Ave in Times Square April 7, 2020**

The Cheesecake Factory has seen a decline in same store sales decline as far back as August 2017. Most recently the CEO sent a letter to all the property owners saying they are unable to pay April’s rent at all 300 of their locations.

Sephora, a subsidiary of LVMH, announced that all stores in the U.S. and Canada will close indefinitely due to the spread of COVID-19.

We are all buying everything on line. Parking at my nearest malls has always been a challenge. Unless you just like window shopping why would you go to a mall? I’m not the only person asking this question. I will miss JCPenny.

Shelter-in-place Coping Levels Measured in Cartoon Bears

I am totally impressed with the creativity of so many people staying at home. Maybe the outcome of the coronavirus will be a new surge of artists and authors.

Anti-vaxxers, are you ready to get your shots for coronavirus when it becomes available?

The person credited with saving the most lives ever is Edward Jenner, inventor of the smallpox vaccine. The disease had a much higher mortality rate than the novel coronavirus that is confining many people to their homes right now; about 80% of children and 60% of adults who contracted smallpox died of it. In the 20th century alone, it killed more than 300 million people before the vaccine eradicated it worldwide in 1979.

CDC officials announced Tuesday that they believe the new vaccine currently under development aimed at controlling the rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 virus — responsible for causing COVID-19 — will be approved and ready to be utterly rejected by those in the anti-vaccination (anti-vax) movement by next year.

Anti-Vaxxers are terrified the government will ‘enforce’ a vaccine for coronavirus. Anti-vax groups on social media are claiming that the spread of the disease will lead to mandatory vaccinations and ‘unlimited surveillance.’ For most people, the news that a vaccine had been developed against the disease would come as a relief, but for anti-vaxxers it ties together two things. The first is, naturally, an overwhelming fear and distrust of vaccines; the second is a terrified certainty that someday the government will find a convenient excuse to enforce Orwellian degrees of control. This is a common theme in the anti-vax world, and conspiracy theorist communities more broadly: that every disease outbreak is a pretext to enforce a secret, frequently sinister agenda.

When available should we just let them die or force inoculations against their will?

A Great President Who Leads by Example

Are you all happy with the behavior of a president who simply does not understand that the people of this country want more than Mr. Bluster? Am I being petty?

U.S. economy is now in recession but there is Good News

The bad news. Ten million people have filed for unemployment insurance in the past two weeks.

We all knew this day would come, so let’s bow our heads in reverence to what will be remembered as the longest bull–market run in history.

THE NINE YEARS OF JOB GROWTH that started in the aftermath of the Great Recession under BARACK OBAMA and continued under DONALD TRUMP came to a screeching halt in March, when the U.S. economy lost 701,000 full-time jobs. The jobless number rose to 4.4%, up nearly a full percentage point.

The monthly BLS survey was taken March 8 to March 14 — well before the nation went into practically full lockdown — so the unemployment rate is probably much, much higher and likely upward of 10%.

Before the stay at home orders were given by most states the U.S. economy was roaring. Most economists are saying that once the stay at home order is lifted things will return to normal rather quickly.

It’s all about buying stuff. Americans, I believe, are anxious to continue their buying ways. Of course they might be just a bit more cautious.

A Joe Biden Commercial

Worth your time to watch.

The Blame Game – The Buck Does Not Stop Here

Donald Trump in the East Room discussing health care

The sign “The Buck Stops Here” was on President Truman’s desk in his White House office. In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, “The President–whoever he is–has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.

Sadly our current president takes no responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault. That is strange considering he repeatedly refuses to listen to the specialists in intelligence, health care, and every other department.

As president, Trump blamed “liberal judges” for rejecting his initial travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries. He blamed Obama for his own policy of separating families seeking asylum. He blamed the media and Democrats for perpetrating a hoax about the dangers of the coronavirus. He then blamed China for failing to apprise us about the pandemic, even though he was briefed on it before he took remedial action. He blamed a nonexistent Obama era regulation for his own failure to provide medical professionals with adequate testing kits for the coronavirus. He blamed governors for the lack of protective equipment for health care workers.

March 13: “I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said defiantly, pointing to an unspecified “set of circumstances” and “rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

March 27: The president blamed General Motors and its CEO, Mary Barra, for not manufacturing more ventilators to treat patients.

What’s next for our very “stable genius?” Or perhaps the question should be Mr. President, When will you take responsibility?