Rich Retail, Poor Retail

Driving across our country provides lots of evidence that our country divides the rich and poor.


For instance, I recently saw a strip mall plaza with this stack o' signs for poor-people stores:

• A value-oriented supermarket (though inside it was very well-maintained, with good product selection)
• A liquidator (or pseudo-liquidator, depending on your point of view)
• A donation shop with its assortment of secondhand household goods and clothes
• A dollar store (where not enough items cost a dollar or less, in my experience, and they rip off their workers)
• And a rent to own shop, which is one step up from a pay-day lender.

Retail-location consultants exacerbate this trend, I'm sure. And in some ways, their recommendations make sense -- why not group businesses together when they have shoppers with similar demographics? It makes for less travel time, and creates "sales synergy" for all.

But sheesh, it makes for bleak landscape.