The GOLDEN AGE OF RETAIL begins when the government stops handing out free money.
Beyond the two mentioned in the quoted tweet, government subsidization (SNAP/Section 8/etc) also destroyed the work required by businesses to earn their customers while empowering the bottom of the barrel to invade places like malls & shopping plazas, driving them to ruin.
Two examples are Nike and Walmart but I have noticed some major shifts in atmosphere at the mall and Walmart is actually trying to earn business via major store overhauls. This is 100% because of the Trump administration overhauling SNAP (5 million people already dropped) & ICE enforcement.
Going to the mall was always fun as a kid as it meant I could go to GameStop. People were friendly, the stores always had quality clothing, the food courts had decent food, and the overall vibe was pleasant. As I got older I severely cut back going to the mall as it became packed with people (including foreigners) who destroy, who curse, who try to intimidate, and simply ruin the family atmosphere. The Nike store, filled with mostly shit sneakers and plastic clothing knowing 50% of their customers will pay with cash from federal programs and don't care about quality, is one of the beacons calling them to the mall.
I went to my local mall, Jersey Gardens (18+ million visitors a year) recently and noticed strong reduction in shoppers, as much as 50%. This is a mall that's massively busy even on the week days. It was a bit eerie to see how quiet the mall was, given that it's massive, but it was pleasant walking around. No crowds of people with zero spatial awareness, no staring, no wannabe thugs, etc. It felt like I walked back into a time capsule. It's pretty reasonable to conclude that both ICE enforcement and an overhaul of SNAP eligibility contributed to this paradigm shift.
For decades, Walmart has reeled in billions easily through SNAP while selling low quality products. I absolutely hate and avoid going to Walmart because it's such a grotesque zoo but when I heard my local one was renovated dramatically I had to go check it out. It was such a night and day difference. The store was not packed to the brim, the customer base felt completely different, it was carrying brands you'd typically see in mall outlets or Target, and prices were raised. I saw cashmere selling in Walmart which would have been absurd to hear of just 2 years ago. The layout of the store also changed dramatically. Instead of the typically aisles lined up in a row, they made it Target-esque or like a mall outlet.
We can have our quality of life back. It's within our capacity. We simply have to stop empowering the bottom of the barrel in society who feed easy money to gluttonous corporations that make no effort to lose weight. Tariffs also play a massive role (I support them) but that's a topic for another time.
It’s actually criminal how many of these are gone. Amazon and private equity killed so much of American life.