The news that Rivers is closing down along with Millers, Katie’s, Noni B, and several other retailers under the same umbrella should sound alarms at all levels of society.
Of course, it is a sad blow for the hundreds, possibly thousands, of employees who will lose their jobs and find it hard to find alternative employment.
But that is just the beginning of the societal damage.
The closure of these businesses is symptomatic of a revolutionary destructive change in the retail world.
It is a direct consequence of the rapid increase in online shopping which is steadily making personal walk-in shopping a thing of the past.
One of the likely consequences is a huge spike in the incidence of mental illness such as occurred during the recent covid epidemic.
Shopping is (or was) a social as much as an economic activity.
It usually involves dressing up a bit, getting out of the house, and engaging with others — shop assistants and other familiars.
Sometimes nothing is purchased.
But greetings and conversation are part of the process and connection is inevitable.
I recently read a book by Johann Hari.
Its title? ‘Lost Connections’.
Its subject? Mental Illness- especially depression.
Can you imagine a world without shops?
A world in which there is no need to go anywhere?
In fact, a world in which there is probably nowhere to go?
Do we want such a world?
– Merv Welch,
The Palms.
