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Why Amazon is paying $9 billion for MGM and James Bond

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Big tech companies have been eyeing big media companies for years — but they’ve never gotten together before. Now it’s finally, probably happening: Amazon is getting ready to pay $9 billion for MGM Holdings, the Hollywood studio that brings you James Bond and a smattering of other stuff, like the Pink Panther movies and The Handmaid’s Tale TV show.
Which leads to some questions. Why now? Why Amazon? Why MGM? And, just as important: Will regulators let it happen?
Short answers here: <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart">The media world is consolidating</a> and there aren’t many targets left for a would-be acquirer. Amazon has spent many billions on video without much to show for it, and thinks owning a studio — and, crucially, the rights to the intellectual property the studio owns — could help it create Really Big Movies and TV Shows You Really Want To Watch. Not so much because it wants to own streaming, but because it wants you to keep coming to Amazon. MGM, meanwhile, has been trying to sell itself for years.
And the way regulators respond to this will be fascinating: Amazon will claim that it’s too small in video for this to pose a competitive threat. On the other hand, Amazon is already in regulators’ cross-hairs. In theory that’s for running a marketplace and selling its own items in the same marketplace, but really just for being so ... big. So this is akin to waving a red flag in front of the likes of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22404493/amy-klobuchar-interview-antitrust-book-hearings-big-tech">Sen. Amy Klobuchar</a> and daring her to charge.
Now that we’re done with the CliffsNotes, a little context about Amazon and Hollywood, which remains one of the weirder media stories of the last decade:
Amazon has been making and buying its own TV shows and movies since 2013 — the same year Netflix got into streaming its own stuff with House of Cards. But you probably don’t remember Amazon’s first shows — Alpha House? Betas? — and you probably can’t think of many Amazon shows at all, except for Transparent and a few others. Which gives you a sense of how all over the place Amazon’s efforts to break into Hollywood have been, despite the fact that Jeff Bezos has spent a lot to make it happen.
Bezos is still trying, though: Amazon is sinking at least half a billion dollars into a Lord of the Rings TV show, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22338794/amazon-nfl-10-billion-tv-analysis">$10 billion over 10 years to show an NFL game once a week</a>. And now, probably, another <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-nears-deal-to-buy-hollywood-studio-mgm-11621880759">$9 billion for MGM</a>.
So does that mean Amazon is finally getting ready to take on the streaming heavyweights — Netflix, Disney, and maybe <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/5/16/22439154/warner-media-discovery-hbo-max-att-streaming-netflix-merger">WarnerMedia/Discovery</a>?
Amazingly, the answer is no: The company is indeed more serious than ever about video. But it’s playing a different game than the “real” streamers. Amazon doesn’t want to compete with Netflix or the other biggies for watch time and subscriber dollars. It just wants you to watch some video and spend some money.
That’s because all of Amazon’s “premium” video is bundled into its Amazon Prime subscription offer, which gives you free shipping and other goodies. It is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/3/18511544/amazon-prime-oral-history-jeff-bezos-one-day-shipping">Amazon’s most powerful weapon</a>. For years, Bezos has said that giving you stuff like Transparent made you that much more likely to stick around and order a pair of shoes — or at least keep paying for Prime.
What Amazon says less frequently but is also true is that it has built a really nice business selling subscriptions to other people’s video services — services like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/offers/?benefitId=discoveryplus&ref=DVM_PDS_GOO_US_AC_C_A_DISCO%7Cm_5KvBkUoUc_c514506181170" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/offers/?benefitId=discoveryplus\u0026ref=DVM_PDS_GOO_US_AC_C_A_DISCO|m_5KvBkUoUc_c514506181170\u0026ascsubtag=[]vx[p]22215828[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":99,"subtag_delim_length":2,"subtag_key":"ascsubtag","subtag_data":{"benefitId":"discoveryplus","ref":"DVM_PDS_GOO_US_AC_C_A_DISCO|m_5KvBkUoUc_c514506181170","ascsubtag":"[]vx[p]22215828[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>Discovery+</a>, for instance. Amazon sells those subscriptions via its “channels” offering, and it keeps a big slice of the money you pay for those every month. In order to do that, it’s helpful to have stuff like Jack Ryan, the series starring John Krasinski as Tom Clancy’s analyst/action hero, to get people watching video on Amazon. Come for the free shows, then maybe buy some other ones.
So Amazon doesn’t want to dominate Hollywood. It just wants a toehold. But even that toehold has been hard to get, and Bezos has been adamant for a while that the way to get it isn’t via niche shows like Transparent anymore — it’s by buying or making big blockbusters that lots of people will watch.
That explains The Lord of the Rings and the NFL, and that explains MGM: It gives Amazon one giant movie brand everyone has heard of and still wants to watch — James Bond — and then a bunch of other stuff that could turn into something, maybe, one day. MGM owns the rights to Rocky, for instance, which has already turned into multiple movies, but maybe there’s a way to do a Rocky Extended Universe.
What the hell is a Rocky Extended Universe? No one knows! But that’s been the conventional wisdom in Hollywood for the last few years. No one knew you would want to watch movies about the Guardians of the Galaxy, or a TV show about <a href="https://disneyplus.bn5x.net/c/482924/564546/9358?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.disneyplus.com%2Fseries%2Fwandavision%2F4SrN28ZjDLwH&sharedid=vox.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://disneyplus.bn5x.net/c/482924/564546/9358?u=https://www.disneyplus.com/series/wandavision/4SrN28ZjDLwH\u0026sharedid=vox.com\u0026subId2=[]vx[p]22215828[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":99,"subtag_delim_length":2,"subtag_key":"subId2","subtag_data":{"u":"https://www.disneyplus.com/series/wandavision/4SrN28ZjDLwH","sharedid":"vox.com","subId2":"[]vx[p]22215828[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>Wanda Maximoff and Vision</a>. But now that Disney owns Marvel, it has been mining the company’s store of obscure superheroes and turning them into giant, popular spectacles. That’s the playbook.
And that playbook, by the way, requires owning the stuff instead of renting it. It used to be that Disney and Comcast and all the other big media companies were fine letting streamers like Netflix and Amazon borrow their old TV shows and movies, but <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/14/18623063/hulu-disney-comcast-fox-netflix-att-office-friends-streaming">those days are over</a>. Meanwhile, finding other studios that will make big movies and TV shows for you is getting harder, too. Sony, for instance, which used to make stuff for everyone, is now off the table because it has long-term deals with Netflix and Disney. Amazon needed to buy ... something.
So: Amazon is betting billions — if the deal goes through, it will be the company’s second-biggest purchase, after it paid $13 billion for Whole Foods — on a Hollywood acquisition that might give it the ability to become somewhat more competitive, in a side business, against people who compete very seriously in only that business. If regulators allow it.
Amazon’s argument to the Klobuchars of the world, by the way, will be straightforward: They’re a small player in entertainment, and the acquisition won’t reduce consumer choice.
On the other hand: If you didn’t like the fact that Amazon runs a store that sells batteries and sells its own batteries in that same store, you might see similar parallels to running a movie store and selling your own movies. Or, you might simply have a problem with one of the most powerful companies in the world using its billions to buy anything at all. We’ll find out.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22451787/amazon-mgm-james-bond-streaming-netflix-analysis">https://www.vox.com/recode/22451787/amazon-mgm-james-bond-streaming-netflix-analysis</a>

vox Why Amazon is paying $9 billion for MGM and James Bond

Big tech companies have been eyeing big media companies for years — but they’ve never gotten together before. Now it’s finally, probably ha...

Spend June with the delicious vacation read Leave the World Behind

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The Vox Book Club is linking to <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https://bookshop.org/shop/voxbookclub&referrer=vox.com&sref=https://www.vox.com/culture/21423100/idiot-elif-batuman-semiotics-language-word-games&xcust=___vx__p_22124352__t_w__r_vox.com/vox-book-club__d" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://bookshop.org/shop/voxbookclub\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/culture/21423100/idiot-elif-batuman-semiotics-language-word-games\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22215715__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_vox.com/vox-book-club__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://bookshop.org/shop/voxbookclub","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/culture/21423100/idiot-elif-batuman-semiotics-language-word-games","xcust":"___vx__p_22215715__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_vox.com/vox-book-club__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>Bookshop.org</a> to support local and independent booksellers.
This June, the Vox Book Club is reading what is probably the best vacation book in recent years: Rumaan Alam’s National Book Award finalist <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbookshop.org%2Fbooks%2Fleave-the-world-behind-9780062667649%2F9780062667632&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fculture%2F22451674%2Fleave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam-vox-book-club" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://bookshop.org/books/leave-the-world-behind-9780062667649/9780062667632\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/culture/22451674/leave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam-vox-book-club\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22215715__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://bookshop.org/books/leave-the-world-behind-9780062667649/9780062667632","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/culture/22451674/leave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam-vox-book-club","xcust":"___vx__p_22215715__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>Leave the World Behind</a>, about a vacation that goes terribly, terribly wrong.
Leave the World Behind follows a family of not-quite-as-affluent-as-they’d-like Brooklynites to a beach vacation house where they plan to, well, leave the world behind — only to find themselves enmeshed in some sort of amorphous, world-changing crisis they struggle to get a handle on. The results are unexpectedly delicious, and the perfect accompaniment for a vacation of your own. With any luck at all, yours can’t go any worse than the one you’ll be reading about.
We’ll be discussing Leave the World Behind on the site in a couple of weeks, and at the end of the month, we’ll meet up with Alam live on Zoom to talk the whole thing through. Audience questions are encouraged, <a href="https://voxmediaevents.com/vox-book-club-june2021">and you can RSVP here</a>. In the meantime, <a href="https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/533DCA62F59CA120">subscribe to the Vox Book Club newsletter</a> to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Friday, June 18: Discussion post on Leave the World Behind published to Vox.com
Wednesday, June 30: Virtual live event with author Rumaan Alam at 5 pm Eastern. You can <a href="https://voxmediaevents.com/vox-book-club-june2021">RSVP here</a>. Reader questions are encouraged!
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22451674/leave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam-vox-book-club">https://www.vox.com/culture/22451674/leave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam-vox-book-club</a>

vox Spend June with the delicious vacation read Leave the World Behind

The Vox Book Club is linking to Bookshop.org to support local and independent booksellers. This June, the Vox Book Club is reading what ...

How Native Hawaiians fought the US Navy, and won

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On January 4, 1976, a fleet of boats headed toward the Hawaiian island of Kaho‘olawe. The goal: take the island back from the US military for the Hawaiian people.
Since World War II, the US military had used the island for bombing practice and had decimated its land. But the story of the taking of this one island was part of a bigger history of the taking of all of Hawaii. The <a href="http://www.protectkahoolaweohana.org/">decades-long efforts</a> to reclaim it would help spark a movement to renew the culture and traditions of the islands — and a push for Hawaiian sovereignty.
Watch the video above to hear from some of the people most connected to this history, who went up against the US Navy in a historic fight to protect sacred land.
If you want to learn more about the story, check out the book <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/a-nation-rising">A Nation Rising</a>, the documentary <a href="https://www.hawaiianvoice.com/products-page/spirit-of-the-land/kahoolawe-aloha-aina/">Kaho‘olawe Aloha ‘Āina</a>, the <a href="http://livinglibrary.kahoolawe.hawaii.gov/index.htm">archives</a> at the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission’s Living Library, and the film <a href="https://www.hawaiiansoulmovie.com/">Hawaiian Soul</a>, which was inspired by the legacy of Kaho‘olawe activist George Helm.
This is the third installment in season two of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5fR2kt0L4Nihvel4pEDw9od">Missing Chapter</a>, where we revisit underreported and often overlooked moments of the past to give context to the present. Our first season covers stories of racial injustice, identity, and erasure. If you have an idea for a topic we should investigate in the series, send it via <a href="http://bit.ly/2RhjxMy">this form</a>!
You can find this video and all of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLXo7UDZvByw2ixzpQCufnA">Vox’s videos on YouTube</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/22450986/kahoolawe-native-hawaiians-fight-sovereignty">https://www.vox.com/videos/22450986/kahoolawe-native-hawaiians-fight-sovereignty</a>

vox How Native Hawaiians fought the US Navy, and won

On January 4, 1976, a fleet of boats headed toward the Hawaiian island of Kaho‘olawe. The goal: take the island back from the US military f...

What will shopping look like?

With two shots of Pfizer in her arm, Bri Blair recently did something she hadn’t risked since before the pandemic: She went to the mall.
She met up with her mom at a shopping center near her home in North Carolina to try on clothes at Belk and Earthbound Trading Company, eat chicken and rice in the food court, and generally reimmerse herself in society. And though there were some notable differences compared with the Before Times — masked shoppers, hand sanitizer stations, plastic bags covering the water fountains — she says she was surprised by how many other people were there.
After more than a year of quarantining and social distancing, being out in such a public space was a strange experience.
“I felt like I was hyperaware of everyone, for sure,” Blair says. Still, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing: She looked people in the eyes, took advantage of the dressing rooms, and appreciated the novelty of the store environment. “I was pretty immersed in the experience,” she added.
With nearly 40 percent of Americans fully vaccinated — a share that is ticking up by the day — and most states easing pandemic restrictions and planning full reopenings, shoppers are slowly emerging from behind their screens and returning to stores. And even as some retail workers are hesitant to come back to (or continue with) what has been an <a href="https://www.vox.com/21400893/masks-walmart-enforce-coronavirus-health-ambassador">especially grueling job</a> this year, companies are also working on a <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail/pandemic-may-permanently-replace-retail-jobs-with-machines">host of changes</a> that may one day make their jobs obsolete.
US retail sales jumped 10.7 percent in March as a third round of stimulus checks padded consumers’ pockets, according to the <a href="https://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf">US Department of Commerce</a>. Apparel sales more than doubled over the same month last year, while sales at department stores rose 13 percent above their February levels. In April, sales were flat as the stimulus bump receded, though economists point to the sustained improvement over 2020’s dismal figures — and Americans’ increasing comfort with indoor activities — as reasons for hope.
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<aside><q>“When provided with the ability and the possibility of spending in a safe way, consumers have the desire to do so”</q></aside>
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“What we’ve seen in the latest data is that when provided with the ability and the possibility of spending in a safe way, consumers have the means and the desire to do so,” says Gregory Daco, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.
Already, the spending surge has contributed to rising prices in some categories, especially those where the demand for goods has most outstripped the supply of inputs, Daco says. Currently, inflation is hitting sectors such as tech and home building, which have been impacted by shortages in <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/7/22368552/global-chip-shortage-end-tsmc-samsung-ps5-supply-demand-intel">semiconductors</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22410713/lumber-prices-shortage">lumber</a> alongside skyrocketing demand. As new parts of the economy reopen, though, Daco expects prices to adjust accordingly, with inflation shifting from goods to services such as flights, hotel rooms, and sporting events. (Though, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22435400/economy-unemployment-inflation">other experts have admitted</a>, it’s impossible to say exactly what the economy will do in the pandemic’s aftermath.)
“Inflation at this stage of the recovery is almost unavoidable … but that does not mean that it’s uncontrollable,” he says, explaining it will take time for spending patterns to normalize and for supply to catch up to demand.
While foot traffic in stores hasn’t caught up to pre-pandemic highs, the country’s best malls are seeing improvement. Among a sample of 52 Class A malls, foot traffic in April was down just 18.7 percent from 2019 levels, analytics company Placer.ai told Vox in an interview. That was a marked gain even from March, when traffic was off by 23.7 percent.
With new cases of Covid-19 on the decline across most of the country and plans for weddings, concerts, and vacations on the horizon again, retailers anticipate a spending boom. After all, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/business/media/post-pandemic-ads.html">ads for beer and shapewear</a> now suggest, what better way to get “back to normal” than to buy new stuff?
But just because vaccinated Americans can safely shop like they used to doesn’t mean all of them will. Some have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/suburban-homes-and-retail-are-the-budding-new-office-hotspot-11620129603">moved to the suburbs</a> and now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopping-centers-occupancy-rents-retail-commercial-real-estate-2021-5">frequent strip malls</a> instead of street-level boutiques; others have changed jobs and routines. Some won’t be going back to the office every day, so they’re less likely to buy a new dress shirt or pop into the downtown shops after work. Many have also grown accustomed to the ease of curbside pickup and now expect their trips to the store to be as quick and convenient as checking out online.
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<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1621893999_7573_374463" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22528796,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-5lyG4PxGYiuZbJp5dALNajIqNQ=/0x0:5678x3785/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bge5nBw1T7VhUCtbTTgGwVR0t6E=/0x0:5678x3785/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FkKIC4bgWScvF2N-LxFsAS5mz00=/0x0:5678x3785/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rKd5XtRUBxHSCiN0hMRgKXfMvxU=/0x0:5678x3785/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wWSqx_Q6rM0BECxtGAcWQxCp5wY=/0x0:5678x3785/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8cgZUPc45xHokbHZa0afwHuigpw=/0x0:5678x3785/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/H2MZBSrUJVINtjyunw4PHjxMPs8=/0x0:5678x3785/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8CukWvUoT0DqHWo4tRwkxVe21Cg=/0x0:5678x3785/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xzSzCLTs5Bx4WwH-rD0I7aLsI9A=/0x0:5678x3785/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5678" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VCuH9Z8OFhvi465aN2ejYtqEt6U=/0x0:5678x3785/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IQl3qzF5Rj100l1zIYwO3yp7Fsk=/0x0:5678x3785/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MaHuKPmjOuGlEtffazJgoVqX00A=/0x0:5678x3785/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wrnuQX0LyWVTPV1-WAdERVuuS1o=/0x0:5678x3785/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eDn_VE5qSqkv0KdhiYXdX0iLeqc=/0x0:5678x3785/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/weLvGf6Elx1C5TsMHbiKn_Bm7SM=/0x0:5678x3785/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2FY3Ev1EV8gyCkUfmaYY7z_DiTE=/0x0:5678x3785/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tmL8x_kuB4S7XiAMbQPFvU2FKUs=/0x0:5678x3785/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TtHzOHHPz7ZwJbXMXeE7ACsGM3U=/0x0:5678x3785/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Ko4W_VBfIm8R5z45RkKiItS3Rc=/0x0:5678x3785/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5678x3785):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22528796/GettyImages_1317854955.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Masked shoppers inside a Manhattan mall.</figcaption>
<cite>Spencer Platt/Getty Images</cite></figure>
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Even though e-commerce accounts for only <a href="https://www.census.gov/retail/mrts/www/data/pdf/ec_current.pdf">about 14 percent of consumer spending</a> in the US today, according to the Census Bureau, it may still be an existential threat to tens of thousands of existing stores. A recent UBS report forecasts <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/05/store-closures-ubs-predicts-80000-stores-will-go-dark-by-2026.html">80,000 retail store closures</a>, representing 9 percent of the country’s total retail footprint, by 2026. The report suggests more stores will close as Americans do more of their shopping online — a trend UBS says has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Back in February, as many as one in four US consumers said they no longer enjoyed the in-person shopping experience and didn’t feel safe shopping in stores, according to <a href="https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/vaccine-consumer-behavior">a global IBM survey</a>.
Karl Haller, a partner at IBM Global Business Services, expects these concerns to flag, though, so long as local public health outlooks continue to improve. “As people are getting vaccinated and as restrictions are getting relaxed, safety will probably slowly migrate down in terms of its active importance in the minds of consumers, unless or until there is an outbreak of some sort,” Haller says.
While conspicuous Lysoling, mandatory hand sanitizer stations, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/08/robot-cleaners-surge-pandemic/">UV disinfection robots</a> roaming the aisles — which the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson called “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/end-hygiene-theater/618576/">hygiene theater</a>” — may assuage some customers’ aversion to germs, they don’t necessarily make for an enjoyable shopping experience. Do you really want to be reminded of the looming threat of plague when you’re trying to buy face cream?
A more subtle shift that could outlast the pandemic is more spacious store layouts, says MJ Munsell, chief creative officer at architecture design and strategy firm MG2. In the past 20 or so years, fixture spacing has tightened to accommodate more and more merchandise, she says. And while the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 sets some requirements for retailers — aisles must be at least 3 feet wide, for example — social distancing has awakened many companies to the value of a little extra breathing room.
“[Retailers] are realizing that it is a customer amenity to provide more space, to not feel crowded, to not feel like you’re going to bump into someone else when you’re shopping deeper into a store,” Munsell says.
<a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3116379/supermarkets-adopt-wider-aisles-contactless-payment-covid-19-pandemic">Grocery chains</a> and garden centers now tout their “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=512735803234535">massive aisles</a>” alongside their low prices and merchandise selections. Contactless checkout sections are also here to stay, with Walmart rolling out its <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2020/walmart-unveils-pandemic-inspired-store-design/">self-checkout kiosks</a> in 1,000 additional stores this year. The country’s largest retailer is even <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2020/walmart-tests-store-without-cashiers-as-covid-19-accelerates-change/">testing a new format</a> that would eliminate cashier-staffed checkouts entirely.
Retailers that added or expanded their fulfillment options — among them curbside pickup; buy online, pick up in-store; and ship-from-store — during the pandemic are now finding that they have to more seamlessly integrate those processes into their store designs.
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Grocery giant Publix, for instance, <a href="https://progressivegrocer.com/exclusive-publix-debuts-new-prototype-tampa">recently debuted</a> a new store format that includes a permanent online order hub, pharmacy drive-through, and designated parking spots for grocery pickup. The head of store operations at Ulta Beauty, meanwhile, told Morning Brew that it is <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fretail%2Fstories%2F2021%2F04%2F26%2Fshopping-centers-pandemic-era-debate-gets-curbside-parking-spot&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F22446093%2Fshopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.morningbrew.com/retail/stories/2021/04/26/shopping-centers-pandemic-era-debate-gets-curbside-parking-spot\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22210134__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.morningbrew.com/retail/stories/2021/04/26/shopping-centers-pandemic-era-debate-gets-curbside-parking-spot","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup","xcust":"___vx__p_22210134__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>renegotiating some store leases</a> to include parking spots for curbside pickup.
Convenience is just one feature that retailers are ramping up. Many are also recognizing that people need a good reason to shop in-store when the same products can be found quickly and easily online.
“There can no longer be what I would call a Field of Dreams mindset when thinking about stores. It is not a ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy,” says Haller.
At the arts-and-crafts chain Michaels, <a href="https://chainstoreage.com/first-look-michaels-unveils-new-concept-stores">new concept stores</a> will include “maker spaces” with free supplies, classes, and crafting tutorials. Dick’s Sporting Goods, meanwhile, opened its first <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/09/dicks-sporting-goods-new-store-has-a-driving-range-and-outdoor-track.html">House of Sport megastore</a> in April, featuring an indoor rock-climbing wall, batting cage, golf driving bays, and outdoor track and field that will be converted into a skating rink during the winter.
Lindsay Binette, director of field marketing at WS Development, says foot traffic is almost back at pre-pandemic levels at most of the company’s properties, which include the Boston Seaport and Tampa Bay’s Hyde Park Village. The Instagram-friendly ear-piercing studio Studs opened this month at The Current, the Seaport’s pop-up village, while Tampa customers are flocking back to the custom candlemaking shop The Candle Pour.
“People are really looking for more of that sense of discovery that you can experience in-store that you can’t experience when you’re online,” says Binette.
While retailers were already making more efforts to tailor each of their stores to the unique tastes and demographics of local markets prior to the pandemic, that task became especially urgent in a year when people rarely ventured far from their homes.
Nike is betting on this strategy with <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.nike.com%2Fnews%2Fnike-live-launches-in-long-beach-and-tokyo&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F22446093%2Fshopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://news.nike.com/news/nike-live-launches-in-long-beach-and-tokyo\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22210134__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://news.nike.com/news/nike-live-launches-in-long-beach-and-tokyo","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup","xcust":"___vx__p_22210134__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>its Nike Live stores</a>, which leverage data about customers’ buying patterns and engagement to “provide the ultimate localized brick-and-mortar shopping experience.” To that end, shoppers visiting the Nike Live boutique in Tokyo will have an experience very different from those visiting the store in Atlanta.
“It’s no longer a rubber stamp from store to store. You’re starting to see a real different mix based on the patterns of purchase that are happening in a particular community, and that’s really going to help make brands more relevant,” says Lara Marrero, strategy director and retail practice leader at Gensler, a global design and architecture firm.
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<aside><q>Only 1,600 mall-based department stores remain in the US, and half of them are expected to be shuttered by the end of 2025</q></aside>
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If all retailers could be more like Nike, perhaps the outlook for America’s malls and brick-and-mortar stores would be brighter, but as it is, most experts predict that the glut of mediocre retail is unlikely to survive for long. Last year, a record 12,200 stores closed in the US, according to an analysis by the commercial real estate firm CoStar Group. About a third of them were department stores, clothing chains, and other mall-based properties. Department stores have an especially challenging road ahead: Only 1,600 mall-based locations remain in the US — down about 40 percent since 2016 — and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/04/16/half-countrys-remaining-mall-based-department-stores-are-expected-shutter-by-2025/">half of them are expected to be shuttered</a> by the end of 2025, according to Green Street Advisors.
Matt Anthony has seen what happens when a department store closes up shop. The Akron, Ohio, resident saw the writing on the wall when Macy’s left his local mall in 2016, and again when Sears and J.C. Penney followed suit soon thereafter. Last year, with no anchor stores remaining, the mall entered foreclosure proceedings, and just recently the property was bought by a developer who plans to turn it into a business park.
Anthony had witnessed this kind of decline a decade prior at the mall across town, which lost Dillard’s, Target, and Macy’s before shuttering in 2008. The property sat mostly vacant for years, earning its place in the annals of dead malls thanks to <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/abandoned-mall-snow-dystopia_n_6656318">photos of its snow-covered atrium</a>, the skylights caved in from neglect. Today, though, the site of the former mall is once again bustling with activity: On November 1, 2020, Amazon <a href="https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2020/11/10/amazon-announces-opening-fulfillment-center-former-rolling-acres/6231641002/">opened a distribution center</a> where it once stood.
Akron has one remaining (and, fortunately, far more successful) mall, and Anthony and his wife recently drove there on a Friday night to run errands and enjoy a social experience after so many months hunkered down at home.
“It felt really good to be out among people again,” he says. “Just being able to meander and wander, given the fact that we’ve just spent the past year or more not being able to be near other people, was to me really refreshing.”
Going to Summit Mall was like “walking back in time to 20 years ago,” he says. The parking lot was full, Macy’s was open for business, and people seemed to be happy to be there. While he expects it will be a luxury one day to be able to, say, walk into a camera shop to ask a question rather than firing up a chat window with a faceless customer service person online, his trip to the mall that night reminded him that there are certain aspects of the brick-and-mortar experience that can’t be replaced online.
“It kind of harkens back to what it once was,” he says. “I wish we would have appreciated it a little earlier in the process before we gave our life over to Jeff Bezos.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446093/shopping-mall-real-brick-mortar-ecommerce-curbside-pickup</a>

vox What will shopping look like?

With two shots of Pfizer in her arm, Bri Blair recently did something she hadn’t risked since before the pandemic: She went to the mall. Sh...

China Denies Claim Of Illness At Wuhan Lab Before Covid Outbreak In 2019

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="China Denies Claim Of Illness At Wuhan Lab Before Covid Outbreak In 2019" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-05/qi8v20a8_wuhan-virus-labreuters-_625x300_24_May_21.jpg" title="China Denies Claim Of Illness At Wuhan Lab Before Covid Outbreak In 2019" /></div>
A report said 3 researchers from Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019.
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Beijing:
China on Monday dismissed as "totally untrue" reports that three researchers in Wuhan went to <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chinas-wuhan-lab-staff-took-hospital-care-before-covid-19-outbreak-disclosed-wsj-report-2448111" target="_self">hospital with an illness</a> shortly before the coronavirus emerged in the city and spread around the globe.
Since infecting its first victims in the central Chinese city in late 2019, the pathogen has afflicted almost every country in the world, killing more than 3.4 million people and pummelling national economies.
Beijing has always fiercely fought the theory that it could have escaped from one of its laboratories.
Citing a US intelligence report, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the trio from the Wuhan Institute of Virology were affected as early as November 2019, suffering from "symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illness".
China disclosed the existence of an outbreak of pneumonia cases in Wuhan to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019.
Asked about the reports on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian described them as "totally untrue".
He told reporters that, according to a statement from the institute, it "had not been exposed to Covid-19 before December 30, 2019, and a "zero-infection" record is kept among its staff and graduate students so far".
The coronavirus was, however, taken to the lab for study, according to Chinese authorities.
The theory that the killer virus leaked from a Chinese lab was fuelled by, among others, the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
But in March, after a four-week stay in Wuhan, a joint study by the WHO and Chinese experts deemed such an explanation "extremely unlikely".
Experts favour the generally accepted theory of the natural transmission of the virus from an animal -- probably a bat -- to humans, through another animal that has not yet been identified.
Some believe, however, that WHO specialists did not have enough space to work freely during their investigation in Wuhan.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-denies-claim-of-illness-at-wuhan-lab-before-covid-outbreak-in-2019-2448618">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-denies-claim-of-illness-at-wuhan-lab-before-covid-outbreak-in-2019-2448618</a>

news world China Denies Claim Of Illness At Wuhan Lab Before Covid Outbreak In 2019

A report said 3 researchers from Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019. Beijing: China on Monday dismissed ...

More Than 200 Injured After Two Metro Trains Collide In Malaysia

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="More Than 200 Injured After Two Metro Trains Collide In Malaysia" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-08/2sl9vh5_railway-track-generic-650_625x300_20_August_20.jpg" title="More Than 200 Injured After Two Metro Trains Collide In Malaysia" /></div>
Malaysia minister said the collision was the first major accident in the metro system. (Representational)
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Kuala Lumpur:
More than 200 people were injured in Malaysia on Monday when two metro light rail trains collided in an underground tunnel close to the Petronas Twin Towers in the capital Kuala Lumpur, officials said.
The incident occurred at around 8.45 PM (1245 GMT) when one of the trains, which was empty after being repaired, collided head-on with another train carrying 213 passengers travelling in the opposite direction on the same track, district police chief Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said.
Forty-seven people were severely hurt and 166 others sustained minor injuries, he told reporters. The crash occurred in a section of tunnel about 100 metres (330 feet) away from the KLCC station outside the Petronas towers.
"We are still investigating the incident..., but we suspect that perhaps there was a miscommunication from the trains' operations control center," Mohamad Zainal said.
Videos and photos of the incident posted on social media showed several bleeding commuters and broken glass panels inside the trains, operated by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said the collision was the first major accident in the metro system's 23 years of operation, and he pledged a thorough investigation.
The 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/more-than-200-injured-after-two-metro-trains-collide-in-malaysia-2448601">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/more-than-200-injured-after-two-metro-trains-collide-in-malaysia-2448601</a>

news world More Than 200 Injured After Two Metro Trains Collide In Malaysia

Malaysia minister said the collision was the first major accident in the metro system. (Representational) Kuala Lumpur: More than 200 p...