I remember, when I was a child, numerous small stores  thrived in my town; clothing stores, book stores, hardware stores, shoe stores etc. I have so many memories of my Mom taking my brother, sister and I for back to school clothes at Chwatsky’s or new shoes at Jack’s Correct Fit. And, of course, the owners knew my Mom by name as well as me and my siblings. One by one as malls and larger department stores opened the small “mom and pop” stores closed. At that time, the large department stores were viewed as the dreadful enemy of the smaller local stores.

Currently, all the news you read about larger retailers is severe. Macy’s recently announced over one hundred stores will be closing. JC Penny’s recently released a list of approximately one hundred and thirty stores that will be closed. Other retailers closing their doors include RadioShack, Payless, and Sears.

And while one is quick to blame internet retailers for the demise of the brick and motor stores, I have to wonder whether this is some sort of natural progression of retail. Large retailers replaced smaller stores and now internet retailers are replacing the large retailers.

What’s next?