Last year, when the big chain video rental store went out of business, and a branch of a bank no one had ever heard of opened up in its place, there was talk around town. The equivalent of Main Street had five bank branches already. How many banks does one town of 38,000 people need? The Chase Manhattan Bank has three branches and two "drive-thrus" in our town.
In the ‘80s, if a bakery went out of business, a video rental store popped up in its place. Many of us can remember when watching a movie at home, on one's own terms, was a thrilling novelty. In the early ‘90s, whenever a stationary or shoe store went out of business, a drop-by nail salon opened in its place, democratizing the beauty ritual. In the mid ‘90s, if a tailor went out of business, a wireless store moved into the space, spreading a new kind of technology.
Valerie Block is the author of the novels
Don't Make A Scene (Ballantine, 2007),...
read moreIn the late ‘90s, all the neighborhood drug stores started getting eaten up by either Duane Reade, a NYC local chain, or CVS, a national chain. When I lived in the city, I waited on line at Duane Reade. In the suburbs, I wait on line at CVS. It is the same principle. It is the same math: one bottle of water and a pack of hand wipes = 20 minutes on line at either Duane Reade or CVS. In the city, on every block, there's a branch of every bank, a wireless store and a nail salon. The stimulant-addicted hoards keep four branches of Starbucks within a two-block radius in business. The city can support innumerable outlets of CVS and Duane Reade, which seem to do just fine, in spite of taking 20 minutes per customer to sell their sundries.
Meanwhile, "record" stores have gone the way of the knife grinder and sellers of "dry goods" -- only one chain selling "records" remains in the city (Virgin). It's increasingly difficult to find anyone to repair existing products: shoes, watches, vacuums and computers. There is more money, obviously, in replacing the old or broken with the new and functional. A recent article in the Home Section of the New York Times featured biodegradable sofas, pillows and garbage cans. The smart designers are now getting attention for creating items that can be thrown away in a responsible fashion.
It is clear why a wireless store can survive while a bakery can't, why the chain drug stores can succeed where the neighborhood pharmacy cannot. I understand the obsolescence of video stores and "record" stores, now that DVDs come in the mail and songs can be plucked out of the air. But mysteries remain: why would anyone want to watch a movie on her phone? Why does it take 20 minutes to buy a bottle of water and a pack of hand wipes? And what about the suburbs? Why so many bank branches and nail salons? We all have cars here - why do we need another CVS less than a mile away from the existing CVS?
I am sensing a sinister pattern in the obsolescence, inefficiency and realignment of retail. The President's popularity and support for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have plummeted to historical lows. And: It's impossible to find a public phone in working order. Coincidence? I don't think so. At some point the major phone carriers mounted a campaign to smear working public phones with foul substances, and break the others, so it became impossible to rely on public phones; now pretty much everyone has a cell phone.
Soon we will learn that CVS and Duane Reade are owned by the same company: the Disney Company. There will be further revelations: Disney is owned by AT&T; AT&T is owned by Rupert Murdoch; Rupert Murdoch is owned by Apple; Apple is owned by the Chase Manhattan Bank; Chase Manhattan Bank is owned by Halliburton. The perfect vertically-integrated conglomerate, with content, product, distribution, distraction and power, all in one place.
You don't buy it? Look around: half the people are talking on their cell phones (AT&T), and half the people are texting, web-surfing or watching news on their very special devices (Apple). The news, which is so awful these days (George W. Bush, Halliburton), is cut down to size on the small screens. Turning the device off, or switching to something else - email, or a movie, perhaps - gives the American citizen a sense of control over such tragedy. Since we can't make an impact on the wars, we might as well switch the channel (Murdoch).
We are slowly but insistently being pushed towards the model of receiving information about the world through a tiny screen in our palms. Therefore, the nail salons retain their usefulness: we're constantly focused on our hands, so the nails had better look good. That makes sense. The democratization of information and entertainment choices has made the people passive and tractable, allowing for the continuation of the unpopular wars by the unpopular president. Still a mystery: why the 20-minute wait for a bottle of water and a pack of hand wipes? I am trying to imagine which corporate structure that serves.
...read more blogs
88 likes 
