Seven & i mulls selling department store unit Sogo & Seibu

do it

after they closed down the Sogo in Kawaguchi a year or so ago, the entire lot has been empty with no plans for a replacement. It is sad to see department stores slumping this way, but I guess it's time to move on and see what new shopping experience may come after this other than online retail.

With online shopping hitting an all time high due to competitive pricing and easier returns, shopping malls are going to collapse sooner rather than later!

Posting sales numbers does not tell the whole picture.

each time i go through chiba station, that sogo store there out the front is dead as nails...

but yeh if they sell it, i can't imagine what would take its place...

Chains may end up with one department store in Ginza, so the wealthy can shop in the way they wish to, having flogged the rest for residential redevelopment.

The rest of us will either shop online, use a small number of unstaffed stores and be required to use subscription apps to enter and purchase, or live like a dystopian underclass, buying and bartering things in charity stores, at car boot sales or flea markets.

Governments want to move all payments to digital so they can monitor the movement of money, blocking it as required. Retailers want to cut costs, with staffing trending to the absolute minimum. Customer service will be 'like it or lump it'. Omotenashi will be a recording of someone thanking you for your custom on you tiny iThing screen.

If anyone out there has a Tardis, please return me to the 1980s and leave me there.