This sector has long been battered by forces beyond its control: globalization, automation, "disruptive" new competitors, changing tastes. Bankruptcies mount, and workplaces shutter around the country. Big, empty buildings, once bustling with young people, have been left to rot.
To add insult to injury, the industry is poised to get slaughtered by President Trump's escalating trade wars. But notwithstanding the U.S. trade representative's (USTR) public hearings on the subject that began Monday, hardly anyone seems to care.
Retail is larger than any of the sectors Trump usually dotes on, the ones he bestows with bailouts and subsidies and affectionate tweets.