Department of Desertion

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1948: Department stores are a $10 billion-in-sales industry (roughly $100 billion today). even little chains, such as Bright’s in rural eastern pennsylvania, flourish.

2017: the last Bright’s closed more than two decades ago, a few years before e-commerce started to take off. Web shopping now generates $295 billion in annual revenue, almost double the amount of departmentstore sales, and big chains such as sears and macy’s are cutting jobs and shuttering stores.