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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

Newsmakers

Kirthi Kalyanam : The Decline of Retail Chains & Amazon’s Role : Mashable

Professor Kirthi Kalyanam was quoted in a Mashable article about the decline of retail chains and the multiple factors, including Amazon, behind it.
JCPenney Research Professor and Director of RMI Krithi Kalyanam Head Shot

Kirthi Kalyanam, JCPenney Research Professor, marketing department chair, and director of the Retail Management Institute, discussed in an article for Mashable the popular idea that Amazon is the ultimate retail killer in an age where more retailers are on the brink of death than any time since the Great Recession. As hundreds of department stores close or struggle to stay afloat, many wonder what the real reasons for retail disruption are.

An excerpt from the article:
Kirthi Kalyanam, who directs the retail management institute at Santa Clara [University]'s business school, agrees [that Amazon is only a piece of the puzzle].

"Amazon has certainly contributed," he said in an email. "[But it] is only one factor."

In other words, online spending is on track to blow up the retail industry, but it's not quite to the point where it actually can. Whether or not companies are anticipating and reacting to the threat by closing stores is another matter.

And clearly, even Amazon believes that brick-and-mortar stores of some form will still matter in the brave new world it's envisioned.

Read the full article here »

Learn more about professor Kirthi Kalyanam »

 

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