Trouble ahead for big boxes

TORONTO — Target Canada’s closure is just one piece of “the slow death of the big box,” according to the Toronto Star. While a shift to emphasising e-retail, as many merchants are doing, may help, retailers shouldn’t forget that Amazon, which has a razor-thin profit margin, has lost money in two of the past four years. At the same time, an aging population means fewer customers willing to spend an afternoon traversing the aisles of a big box.