The failure of mid end department stores has been inevitable for about 10 years. The only way to thrive in retail is to be at the edge of one or more of these dimensions. Price - Be discount or be premium. Experience - Be super easy and fast, or be an incredible experience. Range - Specialise and offer incredible depth, or be a thin online layer across all inventory in the world. You business fails not because it makes mistakes but because the default position is failure. Every day your company needs to fulfill a role in people's lives. Department stores generally just don't have a reason to exist any more unless you skew to the above. …see more