The Corporate Homogenization of Retail

"Street Scene," Jacobus Vrel, about 1654 - 1662
Digital Image Courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program

Hello friends,

I recently stumbled across this Washington City Paper article discussing how independent retail businesses can barely make it in D.C.   It explores in greater depth a phenomenon that I have long noted.  In fact, the sterile, corporate feeling of D.C. immediately struck me the minute I moved here. It's one of my biggest criticisms of the District and surrounding area and a big part of why I think it's so important to really invest in building a creative niche for myself.

Unfortunately, though, this is a trend that's happening in cities across the U.S. as more and more people decide they want to live downtown and rent prices skyrocket. It's just happening in D.C. faster than most cities because D.C. rents already started high, and its role as the seat of national government tends to insulate it from economic downturns that would normally drive prices down in other places. Cities, which have traditionally been centers of artistic innovation flowing from communities that operate outside the suburban mainstream, are now becoming homogenized playgrounds for the wealthy.

It's palpable.  We can feel it across our entire culture.  The movie and music industries are just reproducing the same rehashes of old, already-been-done hits.  Lunch hour is dominated by the same ten chains that let you order at the counter.  Women across the country get all their work clothes at Ann Taylor, J. Crew and Banana Republic.  It's only due to the death of big box book retail (i.e. Borders) and nostalgic Millenial coffee yearnings that the independent book shop (with cafe) is enjoying an urban renaissance right now.  Yet half of online sales occurred through Amazon last year, for books and for everything else, so how long will that last?  The only businesses capable of competing with online shopping while also paying anywhere-near-a-city rent are corporate chains, and that's usually because their online sales bolster their brick-and-mortar presence.

To an extent I blame Washington D.C. government.  The article goes into the city's policies somewhat, and the city's lackluster attempts to encourage the growth of independent business.  I personally think that, instead of developing new programs the District should work to improve existing services and to refine and/or clarify regulations that place large burdens on small and independent businesses.  One D.C. agency stands out to me in particular: the Office of Tax and Revenue.  OTR is so notoriously difficult to deal with that I'm surprised any small business in the District knows how to comply with D.C. sales and business tax requirements.  I have some stories of my own regarding OTR, but they're not that entertaining and would require a series of six blog posts to tell fully, so I'll spare you.  But it's safe to say that I gave up on even trying to start a side business in the District because OTR was so miserable to deal with.  I am not alone in this sentiment.

The death of independent retail also seems to have killed off another honored pastime: the shopping trip.  Only a few years ago I used to love the idea of taking myself out shopping and spending a day seeing, smelling, touching, trying things on, falling in love with an item I would never have known to shop for had I not spotted it.  But I can't actually remember the last time I took a stroll down M St. in Georgetown or went to the mall (the shopping mall, not the Mall) just for fun and without a specific errand in mind.  Because all the stores are the same chains I can find online, and if that's the case I may as well just enjoy the convenience of buying through their websites.  So I have become accustomed to shopping online, consequently skip the physical trip, and then the few independent stores that are out there never get my business.  It doesn't help that the independents are scattered throughout the city rather than being focused in one small shopping district so that it isn't a giant ordeal to shop independent.

I think it's a chicken-and-egg scenario.  The notion seems to be that small businesses can't maintain the kind of online presence that corporations do and thus can't compete, but I would argue that it's the other way around, and that the lack of independent stores is what drives online shopping in the first place, by diminishing the joy and fulfillment of the physical shopping experience.  So consumers shop online, and never even discover the little independent guys.

I enjoy the hunt.  I enjoy getting out of the house.  I enjoy getting to actually touch things and make a day of it.  Peapod is a thing, and yet urbanites still love to go to the farmer's market.  So, too, with retail.  It is nice to be able to put in the exact search terms for what I'm looking for and have it immediately pop up on my screen when I'm shopping online, but what about the lack of discovery and curation and uniqueness that would occur in an independent retail shop where the items before me are not predetermined by a set of search terms or an algorithm?  The homogeneity of corporate retail begets even more homogeneity.  And as corporations die off, what independent stores will even exist anymore in order to grow into corporations that take their place?  Will we one day live in a world where the same three companies are responsible for everything we buy (kind of like how Clearchannel owns all the radio stations and completely dictates what music we hear)?

So the next question I ask is, what does this trend mean for the future of handmade, independent and artisan products?  In some ways it appears to be having a renaissance, in no small thanks to Etsy.  But even Etsy has gone corporate and, post-IPO, it now allows its sellers to work with production partners and outsource their labor.  Gone is the handmade requirement.  So, while Etsy may be an incubator for small and independent businesses, the emphasis on diy is gone.  Nor is Etsy a local phenomenon. Etsy's website connects buyers to sellers all over the world (thus requiring US based sellers to compete with sellers in countries with lower valued currency and cheap labor).  It does nothing to foster the development of independent brick-and-mortar retail that can give a city its soul back.

I want to believe in a city where small, independent artisans can rejuvenate brick-and-mortar retail by offering items that you simply wouldn't be able to get at a corporate chain or online.  Or, that you could theoretically get on Etsy but would never actually be able to find in its highly saturated market of millions of sellers and by slogging through hundreds of search results per keyword.  I want to believe in a city where local shop owners play the role of curator and tastemaker, cultivating a unique and uniquely local style.  The city should have a signature look, a signature vibe, in everything it makes and sells, rather than the same rapidly homogenizing wave of corporate soullessness that makes people in LA dress and style their homes the same as people in Austin and in New York.

I was just in Austin, having heard tales of its weirdness and unconventional combination of Southwestern style with modern liberalism.  So you can imagine my dismay when everyone was dressed like they are everywhere else, all the restaurants had the same small plate nouveau nonsense I've become accustomed to here, and the gift shops carried all the same brands as my favorite gift shop in DC.  I found the same suede clutch that I had bought in DC a few months earlier, no joke. The same Rifle Paper Co. greeting cards.  I've discovered this is happening in Boston, too, from my recent visits.

Is this what we're doomed to, readers?  The same indigo dyed woven wall hangings and cutesy mermaid greeting cards and edgy jacket earrings in every store?  Everything is taking on a veneer of artfulness and whimsical woodland botanical global hipsteresque streamlined Millenial chic, inspired by the Etsy aesthetic, but even Etsy is corporate now.  That artfulness is superficial, set by an algorithms and bots that crawl Google for search terms.  Owls, arrows and chevrons are out.  Now it's monstera leaves, cacti, succulents and moon phase calendars, nationwide.  Next year it will be something different, but it will all still be the same.

What are your thoughts?  Do you feel that the convenience of corporate brands and online shopping at large retailers outweighs the curation and uniqueness of independent however pricier and less convenient retail?  Is there room for both, and if so, how do you balance?  Do you also find that even independent retailers are starting to carry all the same brands?  Has Etsy let you down, or do you still feel that it is relevant and helpful in locating new, interesting, artisan, handmade products? Have you found a replacement for Etsy that is truer to Etsy's roots, whether online or elsewhere?  As retail has become more homogeneous do you find yourself turning more toward your own handmade stuff, swaps, vintage, friends who make stuff, local popups or other alternatives?  Discuss in the comments.