Daily Herald opinion: Answers to issues of lost retailers involve adaptation to new trends, not blame
Think about it - why do you shop online or watch movies at home?
What's your motivation?
We bet it's creature comforts, convenience and a little bit of laziness.
In recent weeks, big box stores like Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond have closed some suburban locations.
Movie theater chain Regal Cinemas in Lincolnshire closed last month, and Regal locations in Round Lake Beach and Bolingbrook are set to shut down soon.
It's certainly a shame to lose brick-and-mortar businesses like these, and hopefully we'll continue to frequent others in some fashion to meet our needs and help our communities thrive.
But some critics immediately want to blame online shoppers for store closings. Amazon, the big bad online bully, specifically.
"Thanks Amazon!" and "If you all continue to shop at Amazon, we won't have any local stores left."
"Everyone watches at home on their TVs now," say others, referring to streamers like Netflix and Hulu, which some blame for the decline in movie theater outings.
Most likely, a few things are to blame, but should one of them be online shoppers? Should you feel bad about saving a few bucks and watching a movie at home? Yes, online shopping and streaming services are taking business away from local stores and theaters, but other factors are also at play here. Most of us are just doing what's easy at the moment.
When you sit down to watch a movie on Netflix, do you think about how it's hurting the local movie theater chain? Probably not. Are you doing what's convenient and comfortable at the time? Probably.
You can watch these movies - many new releases and Oscar-nominated - from the comfort of your couch. In your pajamas! You can pause the movie for a bathroom break or popcorn refill. And no need to hush noisy strangers next to you. Sure, sometimes there's no substitute for sharing a movie and its emotions with all those strangers, so we aren't suggesting people never go to theaters again. But having a choice is nice.
Similarly, when you need an ink cartridge for your printer, you may prefer to click a few times on amazon.com and have it at your doorstep the next day rather than going out in the elements, using gas in your car, searching the many aisles in a huge store, waiting in line and then driving home. But we also know that for many items, getting out to a traditional brick-and-mortar store with a knowledgeable staff has value, too.
A free-market economy influences all this, and the businesses that survive will do so for a reason. If people are OK driving to Starbucks, waiting in line and paying $4 for a cup of coffee, Starbucks will thrive. This is capitalism at its core. Many businesses find ways to blend online and in-person retail experiences, which may help them succeed. AMC Theatres hopes to help its bottom line by charging more for "premium" seats in its theaters. We, the consumers, will decide if that works or not.
And everything seems to come full circle. We recall when Sears, a company that built its fortune on mail-order business, decided in the 1990s to abandon its catalog business because it wasn't performing as well as retail. So, a time did exist when consumers preferred stores to shopping from home. Will consumer habits change again? Only time and shopping habits will tell.
Finding a balance between traditional and online shopping is something we can all do to support local businesses while keeping convenience in our lives.