More trouble in mall land: Wall Street is bracing for more signs of the retail apocalypse this week when Macy’s and Nordstrom (JWN) detail the latest pain from the loss of mall shoppers who’ve migrated online. Worse than slumping sales, department stores are likely to paint a gloomy picture about their busiest and most critical time of the year. Morgan Stanley recently warned that sales will outright decline during the holiday quarter at both Macy’s (M) and Nordstrom. The obvious reason for shrinking
sales is that fewer and fewer Americans are heading to the malls to do their Christmas shopping. Instead of battling the crowds, they’re finding great deals and more convenience on Amazon and elsewhere online. Not only is online shopping growing more popular, but Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) is becoming an increasingly-powerful player, despite serious efforts by Walmart (WMT) and other traditional retailers to catch up. Boosted by innovations like Alexa and its Dash buttons, Amazon is expected to capture 35% of total e-commerce sales during the fourth quarter, according to Morgan Stanley. That’s up from about 20% in early 2016. MORE
